In Markus Zusak's novel, The Book Thief, a young girl named Liesel ventures through life in Nazi Germany. She is fascinated with reading, and she steals books throughout the novel before eventually writing her own. Liesel's passion for reading saves her life at the conclusion of the novel when the rest of her family and friends are killed during an air raid. Her story is narrated by Death, who is quite contrary to what one may imagine. The Book Thief illustrates that the full presentation of the character, not just their actions, has a tremendous impact on the way the character is percieved by readers. The novel begins with a prologue where Death describes himself. He does not wear a robe or carry a sicle, and he does not enjoy his job. This …show more content…
These notes serve as a type of dialogue for Death and reveal more of his character. Furthermore, these notes allow the reader to feel more empathy for him because he often speaks of the growing casualties throughout the war and his increasing workload. Death compares himself to Hitler's best ally. He is disgusted by this title; however, it is his job. These notes from Death cause the reader to feel much more sympathy for him. At the end of the novel Death reveals how he took Liesel's family and friends during the air raid that killed them all. He cradled her best friend, Rudy, and kissed someone's mother. As he reflects on the actions, Death is overwhelmingly sad and confused by the brutality of humans. Death's comforting actions encourage readers to sympathize with him. Death closes the novel by saying he is haunted by humans. The irony of the statement is profound as typically humans are haunted by death. The thoughts of Death throughout the novel reveal his innermost feelings toward the human race and create a large amount of sympathy for him. The cruelness of the human race was evident in Nazi Germany with the severe loss of life of all people. Death does not understand this cruelness. Sympathy is created by Death's questioning of a higher being and why the brutality has not been
’’Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver. Like soft silver…..upon seeing those eyes,she understood Hans Hubermann was worth a lot.’’ (Zusak,34) Liesel saw kindness in Hans Hubermanns eyes which made her feels more comfortable with him rather than Rosa Hubermann.
He understands Liesel’s experience more than any other human and later they become soul mates. Rudy Steiner is Liesel’s best friend. Rudy has a sensitive and compassionate side. He loves Liesel very much and will always be there for her. Liesel slowly adjusts to her new life, she is still plagued by the nightmares of her dead brother Werner. This book has many themes such as love, the books focus is on the characters who are learning to love in war times. The Book Thief is set in war times between the years 1939 and 1943 in Nazi Germany. The Holocaust and World War II are going on at the same time. The war shapes the characters’ lives and makes a huge impact on their life choices. Death lets us know early in the book that this is a very tragic and emotional book. We witness many deaths of innocent people. Death informs to us that many people we grow to love in this book will die. As the characters grow and change, their courage becomes a bigger factor in their lives. It becomes a life-sustaining attribute and a testament to their humanity. She later meets and becomes friends with a neighbor named Rudy, who is quite fond of the American athlete Jesse Owens and constantly bugs Liesel to kiss him. Hans had discovered that
Exposition: Death begins to narrate Liesel’s story as she is sent to her foster parents, Rosa and Hans Hubermann, on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany.
Mark Zusak uses a range of techniques in the Book Thief to recreate Nazi Germany and tell a story from a different point of view. Death’s point of view. He incorporates a wide range of literary techniques to recreate experiences and portray emotions that were present during World War 2. One of the key themes in the Book Thief is that of humanity and what effect it had during the period of Nazi Germany. Zusak tells the story from an omnipresent third person narrator who is known as Death.
The act of dying is quite simplistic, whereas the concept of death is overly complex. For this reason, it is a common theme for novels and articles to include. Death is not only inevitable, but it is also relatable. Almost everyone will experience the death of another person, pet or plant. So, incorporating some variation of that within a text will instantly give a connection to its readers. Of course, the perused death may be sorrowful, but it is often the emotions and reactions from spectator that intrigue readers. This is because it is typically the characters who have witnessed a death that advance a story’s plot. However, the prime exception to this is when there is a death from within a character—when a piece of someone’s identity dies. Incidentally, George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eight-Four exhibits both of these
The Book Thief Short Essay: The Use of Foreshadowing, Irony, and Symbolism in The Book Thief
In conclusion, Markus Zusak uses Death as his narrator to prove that Death is similar and almost completely identical to humans. He uses the narration to establish the spectrum as a key description of the Book Thief. He uses his job as “soul gatherer” in the war to describe himself and explain how the events affected him as a “person”. Death uses human emotions to convey that he is just like regular, normal humans. Death is known to be cruel, disturbing and all things horrific However, in accordance to new evidence, his persona begs to differ. Death is inevitable but he is human too.
...ative appears to be the concept that there is no evading Death himself. All along, it is believed that Death is trying to show the importance of the journey rather then the destination. The fact that everyone is going to die someday is undefeatable. So rather then conclude with that uninteresting conclusion, Death throws it out from the beginning leaving the reader in suspense while wondering how and why this happened to a specific character. This abundance of foreshadowing adds meaning to the text by connecting future symbols with the present. Lastly, Deaths message seems to be that there is escaping him or his result. Everybody is fated to die. So when we are faced with choices in life, are we really making these choices? If everything is already predestined, aren’t we just fated to make that choice? Do we not have any say in our own lives at all…?
Throughout the novel the idea of death seems to show up when the characters are either doing something that is not really who they are or it seems to be used as a way to describe the narrator’s subconscious knowledge or self. Also,
In the first instance, death is portrayed as a “bear” (2) that reaches out seasonally. This is then followed by a man whom “ comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse / / to buy me…” This ever-changing persona that encapsulates death brings forth a curiosity about death and its presence in the living world. In the second stanza, “measles-pox” (6) is an illness used to portray death’s existence in a distinctive embodiment. This uncertainty creates the illusion of warmth and welcomenesss and is further demonstrated through the reproduction of death as an eminent figure. Further inspection allows the reader to understand death as a swift encounter. The quick imagery brought forth by words such as “snaps” and “shut” provoke a sense of startle in which the audience may dispel any idea of expectedness in death’s coming. This essential idea of apparent arrival transitions to a slower, foreseeable fate where one can imagine the enduring pain experienced “an iceberg between shoulder blades” (line 8). This shift characterizes the constant adaptation in appearance that death acquires. Moreover, the idea of warmth radiating from death’s presence reemerges with the introduction to a “cottage of darkness” (line 10), which to some may bring about a feeling of pleasantry and comfort. It is important to note that line 10 was the sole occurrence of a rhetorical question that the speaker
...se around them, even in death. This gives the impression that the author feels that death is what you make of it, so though many view it as depressing and empty, you can be fulfilled in death if you wish.
The novel has much to do with death as it does with life as many of
Death is depicted as an individual’s affair, in which, neither one’s closest friends or closest blood relatives can give a hand in. Upon receiving the tragic news Everyman first approaches his friend Fellowship. At first he is hesitant to reveal his sorrow to Fellowship for he considers it too tragic a plight. After cajoling and assurances by Fellowship to stand by him in whatever situation, Everyman finally pours out his sorrow to Fellowship. Upon realizing that Everyman has been summoned by death, fellowship turns his back on Everyman ...
Thesis: Death is a not that bad of guy as the story tells is side of the story. Death does many things when taking the dead to the afterlife. Death is a kind and caring person who actually seems to be forced into doing this.
Before this point in the poem, Death has been this figure that we cover with images of life, that we separate from ourselves by reminding ourselves that life prevails through death. In our American culture, the figure of death is something that we paint in darkness, we give Him a scythe and paint an image of destruction following his path. During funerals, the pinnacle of our reminder of death, we wear black, we mourn and we prepare the bodies to make them look alive yet asleep. Any disfigurations are taken care of and painted over like a doll. When it comes time to put the bodies in the ground, we all leave before they return to the earth so as not to