Symbolism In The Book Thief

The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, goes deeper than a girl’s story of struggle. In it there are intricate complexities, important themes, and significant symbols that add a different side to the story and go beyond traditional storytelling. Some symbols in The Book Thief include dominoes, Liesel’s stolen books, and Liesel walking into a parade of Jews. Throughout Liesel’s story, repeated themes also emerge. Two of the main themes in The Book Thief are Death and the Power of words. These themes and symbols intertwine into the story in a way that makes the novel more interesting and meaningful. The reader can follow along Liesel 's tragic tale while also stumbling into the powerful themes, motifs, and symbols.

To those who have not read

“She [unlike many others] knew how powerless a person could be without words (446)”. Hitler’s great ability to use words brainwashed people to hate, while the girl used her power to carve her own kind path into Hitler’s dark one. This story of remaining strong in a world full of hatred helped Max remain strong as he was marched to a concentration camp. When Liesel spots Max in the maze of starving and dying Jews, she runs to him without a second thought and recites words from his story. Liesel gives him these lines to remind him of his deep hatred of the fuhrer in order to spur him to keep fighting, to not give up. In Max 's story, Liesel 's compassion is strong enough to destroy miles of Hitler 's evil, and now Liesel was reciting them to Max to give him hope that he is strong enough to do the same. Later, as they both are whipped, together they defy Hitler’s ideas as she and Max did in The Word Shaker. Max and Liesel’s close bond allowed them to gain strength at times when they needed it the most, and this scene is an example of one of those

The story takes place during an extremely destructive time, and death is seemingly around every corner. The theme of death is so prevalent that even the narrator of the book thief is a personified version of it. As Death, the narrator, watched Liesel 's story unfold, Millions of Jews were dying in concentration camps, soldiers were dying for their country, and countless civilians were perishing in bombings. Himmel Street was no stranger to these horrible deaths. Most of the characters living on Himmel Street experience sorrow from the sudden passing of a loved one as a result of World War Two (WWII), and this influences the novel in many ways. Neighbors, sons, daughters, parents, and grandparents all died as a result of the cruelty of WWII and this, along with Death’s cynical narrating, creates a dark and dangerous tone. A death in The Book Thief also changes a character’s entire life. For example, the death of Robert Holtzapfel proved to be too much for his brother Michael, and he committed suicide. This death then causes the death of their mother, Frau Holtzapfel, when her sadness over the loss of her only children consumes her. “He placed his hand on hers, as she fell back to the hard ground. He allowed her screams to fill the street (503).” Towards the end of the novel the readers get a glimpse of how Death feels about this kind of pain and suffering, which millions of others also experienced