Seroka, Lindsey
Mrs. Hackett
English 8
Period 8
22 May 2014
Book Report
Book Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Copyright Date: 2005
Number of Pages: 550
Genre: Young Adult/Historical Fiction
Point of View: 1st person; 3rd person limited; 3rd person omniscient
The narrator in The Book Thief is Death, and his point of view is first person. He provides a narration of his perspective of the war.
Setting: Where and when the story takes place
The novel is centered around Molching, Germany, a fictional town which resides Himmel Street. Ironically, Himmel means ‘heaven’, something that does not at all describe Germany during 1939 to 1942, when the story takes place. A large portion of the story revolves around the basement of 33 Himmel Street, where the Hubermann’s harbor a Jew. Additional important parts take place on Munich Street, the major street in town. The time period is right in the height of Nazi Germany, a time where everything was tense and strained. One of the main threats in that time period for towns like Molching was the fear of being bombed, which ended up playing an immense role in the outcome of the novel.
Main Character: Personality, character traits of the main character, and a description of appearance (how they look). Remember these can be found by direct and indirect characterization (actions, looks, things they say, things others say about them, etc.)
The protagonist of the novel is Liesel Meminger, who may be more notoriously known as The Book Thief. She is a diligent and abnormally curious girl, beginning the book at only ten years of age. Even though one of her very first scenes in the novel is of her stealing a book, she finds great hardship in r...
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...ge: Use of metaphor, simile, personification or idioms
Theme: Life lesson or moral
The theme of this novel is that there are power in the words that people say. The book exemplifies this as Liesel begins her friendship with both Max and Hans as they bond over words and books. As Max explains in the books that he writes as gifts to Liesel, Hitler got into his place of dominance not through war or pain, but through the influence of his words. They can make you feel beautiful or make you turn against innocent people. As the book goes on Liesel tries to drown out the war by taking books, and later goes onto soothe people of their anxiety in the bomb shelter by reading her books to them. The book teaches that trying to save others at the risk of your life is worth taking. That no matter how bad the situation is, there will be a way to benefit yourself and others.
Liesel yearns to discover the power of words through reading books. Throughout the story, she repeatedly steals books to grasp more information. It all starts with The Gravediggers Manuel; Liesel attains this book the day that her brother dies, while he is being buried by the gravediggers. Liesel pilfers this book from the gravediggers because the book will symbolize her remembrance of her brother, Werner. This also will start the beginning of her acrimony for the Fuhrer, because Liesel discovers that he is answerable for his death.
The book had so much power to it. One day, on Himmel street, the town had to get out and go to the shelter. All of the people who lived on Himmel Street were scared because there was a chance their street could get blown up by a bomb. Courageous Liesel pulled out the book, The Whistler. Liesel was sitting in the shelter and started to read the book out loud. “By page three, everyone was silent but Liesel” (Zusask 381) Liesel trapped all of the people's nervous and scared selfs to herself calm voice. The book was a power of silence. The common theme that connects the book Liesel has stolen is that the each book tell a chunk of her
In The Book Thief, author Markus Zusak tells the tragic story of Liesel Meminger and her experiences in 1939 Nazi Germany. Zuzak incorporates compelling literary devices such as toe curling foreshadowing, personification, and vivid imagery in the form of simile and metaphors to grasp the readers’ interest. Zusak’s use of various literary devices helps to deepen the text and morals of the story, and makes the dramatic historical novel nearly impossible to put down.
The heavily proclaimed novel “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak is a great story that can help you understand what living in Nazi Germany was like. Throughout the story, the main character, Liesel goes through many hardships to cope with a new life in a new town and to come to the recognition of what the Nazi party is. Liesel was given up for adoption after her mother gave her away to a new family, who seemed harsh at first, but ended up being the people who taught her all the things she needed to know. Life with the new family didn’t start off good, but the came to love them and her new friend, Rudy. As the book carried along, it was revealed that the Hubermanns were not Nazi supporters, and even took in a Jew and hid him in their basement later on in the book. Liesel became great friends with the Jew living in her basement, Max, who shared many similarities which helped form their relationship. Both of
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
This accumulation of events which are skewed by common cultural perspectives is counteracted by the creative choice of narrator. The Book Thief, a narrative detailing Liesel, a young girl's journey of life during World War II employs this frequently. This form of biased writing within the novel byMarkus Zusak has constructed his expression of character and events to be distanced from our general connotations of the events occurring and preconceived ideas of the people of NAZI Germany. Few scenes occur outside of the context of the Hubberman's or Himmel street and no time goes by where the scene is not overlooked by the narration of Death.
The novel The Book Thief is a book about a young girl by the name of Liesel Meminger. Observing the life of this young girl is not easy as this is the time of Hitler’s reign in Germany. In a short period of time, this girl faces many difficulties. More than any child should ever have to encounter. She has to deal with being abandoned by her mother, the death of her younger brother, and relocation to another part of Germany. Immediately when Liesel arrives to Molching, her life is forever changed. She is forced to live with two strangers, now her new mama and papa. Liesel faces much abuse both at school and at home. At school she is made fun of for her illiteracy and at home, mama speaks very rudely to her calling her a swine and other insults.
“I am haunted by humans” (Zusak 550). The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is about the horrors of World War II. Liesel and her family help out an old friend by hiding a Jew. Liesel also steals her first book when she at her brother’s funeral. 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”.
After she had read Mein Kampf, Liesel had realized the true power of what books can bring. She discovered that not only can books bring joy and a sense of escape to the reader, but can preach hate and bigotry as well. This is then changed by Max’s story, The Standing Man. The story illustrates Max’s strong relationship with Liesel and how she has helped him out through his tough times. However, the important aspect of the story is not the story itself, but on what the story is written. To write his story, Max had painted over the pages of Mein Kampf and on those he writes his story. This symbolizes the fact that the kind words that were the reason Liesel had gotten into reading in the first place, and that they were not to be trumped by the evilness of Mein Kampf. Liesel believes that kindness, friendship, and love trump the hate and evil in the
To celebrate Hitler’s birthday, the people of Molching gather for a bonfire during where they burn enemy articles,such as flags, including books. Liesel sees one book that survives the fire and hides it under her shirt. She's beginning to realize that Hitler is responsible for her brother's death and her mother's absence, and she hates him for it. Ilsa Hermann sees Liesel take the book and decides to share her own love of books with Liesel by inviting her into her library. Max Vandenburg is hiding in a storage closet in Stuttgart and getting help from his friend Walter Kugler. Walter has been in touch with Ha...
The Book Thief is the story of Liesel Meminger narrated by Death. It is set in Nazi Germany between the years of 1939 to 1943. Throughout the story, Liesel gains a new family and an unusual friend in the Jewish man her foster family is hiding in their basement. Liesel is then thrust into a new, dangerous, yet beautiful world. Along with Liesel 's growth and evolution, the evolution of Germany is also covered in the story. While there is various change for the best in the story, not all change was for the best.
To begin with, Liesel is first abandoned by her mother and brother. Her brother dies on the way to Munich and her mother leaves her with a foster family.’’when Liesel searched the mailbox for a reply to her letter, it clearly broke her foster father’s heart...Where was she? What had they done to her?’’ (Zusak, 97) She attempts to wrote letters to her biological mother but Liesel never gets a reply. She then begins to think about what Rosa was saying about people taking her mother away for being a communist. Liesel understands her mother's betrayal when it's Hitler's birthday and he states ‘’The immoral.The Kommunisten!’’ (Zusak,110) she realizes that ‘’Her starving mother,her missing father.Kommunisten. Her dead brother. She saw it all clearly.’’ (Zusak,111) Her mother was a communist and wanted her to be safe. In order for that to happen she had to ‘’abandon’’ her.
“Here is a small fact: You are going to die”(Zusak 3). The Book Thief, a historical fiction book by Markus Zusak, is narrated by Death. The novel takes place during the 1930’s and 40’s in Nazi Germany and follows 9 year old Liesel Meminger, who death refers to as “The Book Thief.” After her father, mother, and then brother are killed, Liesel becomes an orphan and is taken in by Hans and Rosa Hubermann in Molching. Throughout the book, she meets many people including the Mayor’s wife, Isla Hermann, and Max Vandenburg, a Jew who is hiding from the Nazi’s in the Hubermann’s basement. Although Liesel’s life is filled with death and loss, she ends up surviving an air raid on her street and after the war, she is reunited with Max who survived the Nazi death camp.
With examples of family, love and friendship, expresses the hope that through the healing power of words, the corruption and hate in the world can come to an end. Even though the style of writing is simple and direct, it does a good job conveying the different themes of the story, including the different conflicts between politics and religion, separation of families, death, etc. The power of words is shown as soon as Liesel learns how to read. Her will for prosperity and curiosity becomes more powerful with every word she learns.