The Book Thief: A Literary Analysis

Many of us have heard stories about the Holocaust, but did you know that over 11 million people died? Death was a very important yet regular aspect of Nazi Germany, and The Book Thief did a great job describing this destruction. In this novel we are guided through a whirlwind of romances, like Rudy and Liesel’s long lived love for each other, and Rosa and Hans’ hidden desire, but equally we are faced with heartbreaks, and even more often, death. The narrator uses many literary devices to describe the process of death, and the fact that even if we foresee it, it never comes easily. First of all, one of the most prominent uses of literary tools that the narrator in The Book Thief (also known as Death) uses is foreshadowing. By telling us what is going to happen before it actually does, it opens a door of interpretations. You may think that spoiling an event may make it easier to cope with, but as we read about Rudy’s death, many of us found that this was not the case at all. In this novel, the narrator did spoil Rudy’s death by

This imagery helps to convey the same theme, that death is always hard. The narrator in this novel often depicts the sky in intense detail, seeming to describe it to match his mood in that instant. However, these colors have a deeper meaning. Death isn’t really fond of his job, disposing of the souls of the deceased accordingly, so he uses colors to distract him. He isn't a human and it seems he can control his mind above what mortals can, so he paints his surroundings with color: “I do, however try to enjoy every color I see - the whole spectrum... It takes the edge off of stress. It helps me relax” (Zusak 4). This quote perfectly shows the role that colors play for death. They are his guilty pleasure, the only thing that makes death easier for him. Death isn't even a person and he still witnesses how difficult death is, day in and day