Markus Zusak
Markus Zusak was born on June 23rd, 1975 in Sydney, Australia. His mother is German, and his father is Austrian. When he was just a boy, his parents told him stories about what happened during world war two, and these stories would eventually inspire him to write The Book Thief. He even included specific events that he learned about from his mother, such as the parade of Jews, and when Munich was bombed. He began writing when he was but a teenager, and stated that his inspiration came from The Old Man and the Sea, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
Importance of Setting
The Book Thief is set in a small fictional German town called Mulching, which is said to be right outside of Munich. The story begins in the midst of the troubles of world war two, when Hitler has been in power for a decent amount of time. Zusak wanted to portray the story of the German side of things, showing how information about what Hitler was doing was not commonly known. He wanted to show the struggles that can happen in even the smallest towns, emphasizing Nazi influence throughout the book. Some Germans full of pride, others with regret, even more with fear. This is just a small town, but even what they do has consequences, and this shows how much of an actor you had to be to stay alive if you disagreed with the Gestapo.
List of Characters
Death
The introduction of death is an oddity that should be expected, as a spiritual superstition given form should always have some sort of mystery about them. Death is the narrator of The book Thief, telling the readers the tales that he finds interesting while supplanting seemingly meaningless interjections of facts and other such trivial things. In the beginning of the book, he tells us o...
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...t. She makes money by doing the laundry of the rich people in Mulching, but secretly hates it and them. Her love for her husband Hans is great, and enjoys Liesel’s company just as much, even if she doesn’t show it.
Max Vandenburg
A Jew who has been living in secret with the Hubermanns in their basement. He befriends Liesel and has been steadily learning how to read with her help. With Liesel’s inspiration, he starts to draw and write his own books, basing them off his life and his visions. He titles the two books “The Standover Man” and “The Word Shaker”. Hitler is a recurring thought for him, as he imagines himself fighting him in a fist fight, which makes sense considering that Max was always ready and willing for fighting other people when he was younger. Max is forced to leave after Hans makes a mistake and shows his compassion for people.
Rudy Steiner
I had to read two books for a project these two books are about World War II.
Unbeknownst to Liesel, Max secretly writes two graphic stories for her, enshrining the power of words, rewarding her developing power of words and giving her strength to write her own words. The Standover Man; the first of the two complete illustrated stories, encapsulates Max’s feelings towards Liesel and their developing friendship. Within the context of the story, Max is depicted as a bird- like creature who fears ‘men standing over’ him. His fear may be associated with the events of his life that have left him vulnerable, for example, losing his father at a young age and losing a fist fight to a friend. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that Liesel’s presence provides comfort to Max, as he begins to realise that ‘the best standover man [he’s] ever known is not a man at all’, but is Liesel; a companion who is ultimately able to redefine Max’s preconceived notion of ‘the standover man’, as being someone associated with abandonment and antagonism to a compassionate figure that he need not fear. The second story, The Word Shaker, written by Max, and created with the assistance of the Hubermanns, juxtaposes a book of oppression and detestation into a story of hope and resilience, to impart optimism within the reader. The fact that the faint text of the Mein Kampf does not leak through the painted pages, as it did in The Standover Man, is symbolic of how the only way to obliterate the legacy of Hitler is through the union of Jews and Germans. This is utterly uplifting, as they elicit the realisation that even for Max, who is secluded from the world and tormented by the Nazi morals, is powerful enough to overcome his fear of Hitler’s
The Book Thief is set in Nazi, Germany. The politics during this time period were strongly on the Nazi party, the Holocaust and World War II. During Nazi rule the ways of Germany and the areas that it occupied were drastically changed. Jewish people felt the pressure of strong anti-Semitism laws and regulations, while others felt the push of anti-Semitism. As the Nazi party grew strength it began to expand, eventually covering the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, France, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Greece, Norway, and Western Poland. Although Hitler’s rise to power included multiple failures and even a stint in jail after an attempted uprising in Munich, he was eventually able to gain unconditional power over Germany and its...
Liesel Meminger’s remarkable actions like feeling good when she steals a book and her family hiding a Jew help demonstrate why Death is “haunted by humans”. Stealing books and hiding a Jew were both wrong things to do because they were not allowed. These two things are just a few of the ways Death could have become haunted by
First the colors. Then the humans. That’s usually how I see things. Or at least, how I try. *** HERE IS A SMALL FACT ***
Death, narrator of this story, keeps us entirely focused on mortality. Death himself has nothing to do with why people die. He only exists because people die. He has the job of separating the deads souls from their bodies and carrying those souls away to the . Death lets us know from the beginning that this is a very sad and tragic story. But then again this story is set during WWII and the Holocaust, we witness the deaths of many innocent and not so innocent people, which is to be expected in a book about this time period. Death tells us that most of the characters we will begin to love will die by the end of the book. There are very few who do survive in the end of this tragic tale. Which is a very realistic happenstance back then.
...by American bombers and everyone but Liesel dies on the street. Liesel only survives because she was writing a book of her own, and was in the basement when the bombs struck. When she is rescued by the police, she rushes to find her parents and Rudy, but only finds them both dead. The story ends with her being adopted by Ilsa Hermann. Of course, this does not mean the story is over; there is an epilogue. Max survives the war and later finds his way back to Liesel, who rejoices when they finally meet. When Liesel finally dies, death takes her away from the others and shows her the book that she was writing when the bombs fell. She asks him if he understood the meaning of it, to which he responds with his own sage advice. When death takes her soul away for good this time, and takes one last look at the title of the book. The Book Thief by Liesel Meminger.
In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, beauty and brutality is seen in many of the characters. Rudy, Liesel, and Rosa display examples of beauty and brutality often without realizing what exactly they are doing, because it is a part of their human nature. Zusak not only uses his characters, but also the setting of the novel in Nazi Germany to allude to his theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature. The time in which the novel is set, during World War II, displays great examples of beauty and brutality, such as the mistreatment of the Jews. As a result of this time period, the characters have to go through troubling times, which reveals their beautiful and brutal nature in certain circumstances. Zusak uses his characters and their experiences to demonstrate the theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature in the novel.
Have you ever thought of dying? Do you think you can survive? In January 13,1938 Liesel was traveling in a train then her brother died out of nowhere. Then she went to Germany to live with a new mom and dad, because her mom was running away from the government. The new mom is mean but the new dad is very nice he even thought Liesel how to read. Max come to hide in their house. Mas has not been outside for 2 years. Max got sick because Liesel brought snow in the basement. While Max was sick the Nazi soldier come to check the basement. The family was worried that Max was going to die. Yey! Max is going to live. The Germans and the U.S were having a war during this time so, the dad had to go to the war. Rudy is training to be a soldier. Liesle tried to keep everyone that is hiding a story to keep the calm. Letter on the war ended and Jews started going to concentration camps and the dad come back a little injured. While everyone in the town was sleeping a bomb hit their town and everyone died except for Liesle died. Letter on in life Liesel went to the U.S and saw Max and she died at the age of 90.
To what extent is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak worthy of being deemed ‘Great Literature?’
The book I choice for my outside reading is, “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. I chose this book because I find books that take place in a historical era, especially World War II, fascinating and entertaining. I also chose this book because I know it will challenge me with its diction and syntax.
As time evolves, so do the words that are essential for our everyday survival. The most obvious difference between humans and animals is our ability to master the art of speech. Often, people will say the “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, a simple nursery rhyme that helps ease a bullied child from abusive words and taunts. But does that really help cure the emotional pain? Words can illuminate and motivate the minds of people but can also shadow their self-esteem through psychological trauma. In The Book Thief, we see how fundamental words were to shape the reality of millions of people caught in the fire of World War II.
In 2005, Markus Zusak composed one of the most influential novels of modern day literature. His story is known as The Book Thief, a novel told from the perspective of Death. His role is to narrate the life of Liesel Meminger as a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. Death begins the story at the burial of her brother in 1939, just one of many tragic events that will occur in her life, she is then given away by her mother, and has to grow up in the care of another family. For Liesel, this change catalyzes a quest to understand the power of words. This is because she stole a book at her brother 's funeral and desires to read it in honor of him. Her new foster family, the Hubermanns, and friends help Liesel on this quest. Death describes Liesel
Death states that, “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both” (Zusak 491). This book shows us human doing things that weren’t even imaginable before this point. Many people give into ideas that were lies. But, we also watch a few people go out of their way and sacrifice everything for a man they barely even know. They do everything they can to keep him safe and alive. They work harder, the get another job, and they even steal. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, death examines the ugliness and the beauty of humans.
Throughout life many people face difficulties. Depending on the person’s strength some will get through tough times, but some will fail to overcome them. Two books where characters have to face many challenges include: Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Book Thief. These two stories deal with people overcoming the difficulties faced throughout everyday life. Some difficulties include racism, religious discrimination, and dealing with others’ cruelness or kindness. Examples from these books prove that the characters have challenges throughout the stories to overcome. In the face of adversity what causes some individuals to fail while others prevail?