The book thief essay

The book thief essay

Over 30 successfully finished orders. The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, is no The Book Thief essay would focus on the historical novel belonging to the Australian writer Markus Zusak. Originally published: Page count: Language: The book thief essay, German Characters: Liesel Meminger, Rudy Steiner, Hans Hubermann, Rosa Hubermann, Max Vandenburg Genres: Novel, Young adult fiction, Historical Fiction. Her words are enough to help him endure.

The Weight of the Words:

This was an English essay I wrote in Grade 12 - it was basically an excuse to talk about why I love The Book Thief so much. Words are one of the most powerful ways we communicate with each other. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, the impact of words and language is felt throughout the novel. From the negative impact of the anti-Semitic propaganda present in Nazi Germany to the reassuring effect of Liesel's reading in the bomb shelter, words have both a positive and negative influence on the major characters. The composition of the novel also demonstrates this theme through the narrator's use of metaphor and other literary devices to make sense of the world and communicate ideas to the reader.

Within the story and in the way the story is written, Zusak promotes the philosophy that words—both their presence and their absence—have power. Because the novel is set in Germany during World War II, the negative the book thief essay of words is strongly felt, particularly in the anti-Semitic sentiments, the book thief essay. In that time, "Jewry was a label" People were further labeled by slurs like Jewish Filth painted on their homes and shops. There are other ways words are dangerous. Hans puts himself at risk when he paints over a slur on a Jewish shop. There is inherent power in the act of naming; the Nazis claimed this power over the Jews by propagating derogatory names. Hans, in refusing to use or accept the slurs, refuses to acknowledge this power, and weakens its effect.

His refusal also makes it clear his actions will not be influenced by propaganda, and are therefore unpredictable, risky. He sympathizes with the sentiment, but knows if the wrong person heard those words, they would put Liesel in danger. If people cannot articulate their hatred toward their leader, for fear of personal harm, that leader can use their silence as an indicator the book thief essay consent, and can feel secure in his position because without words, no one can challenge him. The second time Hans is harsh to Liesel is the book thief essay he tells her how important it is to keep Max a secret; he threatens to burn her books. Any words that identify a person as something undesirable to the ruling party carry risk with them. Liesel knows only one thing about his father; he was a Communist.

These few assigned labels proliferate, gathering increasingly negative connotations, until a single word carries thousands of words worth of cultivated hatred and fear. Much of Hitler's power as a leader is derived from his skill with words. In Max's allegory "The Word Shaker", he sees Hitler as having decided to "rule the world with words" and calls Germany "a nation of farmed thoughts" The seed of a thought — that Germany would be made better if the Jews were eliminated — can be cultivated through forms of mass communication like speeches, books, or radio.

Hitler, an elegant speaker, uses words as a means to seduce, influence, and mobilize an entire nation. Words are used to convey meaning, and yet can have many meanings, depending on how they are interpreted. German profanity, particularly the terms saukerl and saumensch, is used throughout the book. However, the words are intended and interpreted as terms of endearment. Sometimes, the subtext of a phrase is more important than the literal meaning. The passages with the dictionary also illustrate that sometimes words are not enough; no definition will describe certain feelings precisely.

When Hans is drafted, his goodbye is wordless and resigned. Rosa, a loud, swearing presence in the Hubermann house, is so distraught when Hans goes to war that she falls silent, and the life seems to go out of her. For these women, words are inadequate to describe their grief. On the other hand, people can be powerless without words. When Liesel arrives at her new school, she cannot read or write, and the book thief essay ridiculed by her teachers and by her fellow students. Liesel tries to find other ways to be powerful — by getting into a fight with Tommy Müller — but her palpable feeling of powerlessness only dissipates when her Papa teaches her to read and write, the book thief essay.

At the beginning of the novel, Liesel can do neither. The book represents the last time Liesel saw her brother and mother, and she reads it when she has nightmares, the book thief essay. The ability of words to hurt and to heal is a very important idea in the book. Liesel on one occasion, injures someone with words, the book thief essay. However, Liesel ultimately learns from Ilsa not to punish herself for remaining while the people in her life are taking. She heals herself by writing about her life, her brother, the book thief essay, Max, and her time on Himmel Street.

She ultimately saves herself this way; figuratively, in that she gains emotional closure, and literally, because she is in the basement, writing, when Himmel Street is bombed. At times, words can sustain people. Not always be enough to save them, but enough to get them through. Her words are enough to help him endure. In addition to healing and sustaining, words connect people. After Liesel reads in the bomb shelter, Frau Holtzapfel asks Liesel to read to her regularly in exchange for coffee and other goods. Eventually, Liesel even calls her a friend. This relationship evolves from despised neighbors to friends essentially due to weekly reading sessions.

Words not only strengthen bonds, but connect people who may otherwise remain distant. The first occurs before the start of the story, when Hans is fighting in WWI. He is volunteered to write letters for the captain while the others go into battle, and is therefore the only one to live. Mirroring this, Liesel is in the basement writing The Book Thief when the bomb hits Himmel Street, the book thief essay. While this does not speak to the the book thief essay power of words, it makes clearer the theme of words saving and healing people. Zusak additionally describes words as though they were literal objects. While The Book Thief explores the ways that words can hurt as well as heal, the message is ultimately hopeful.

Death notes that though he serves villains and the book thief essay, there are moments and stories he allows to distract him, and The Book Thief is one such story. For Liesel, even as words took her mother away from her, endangered her best friend, and isolated her when they were beyond her grasp, words were what connected her to the people she loved. Words were powerful enough to save her, in the end. The Weight of the Words: The Impact of Words and Language in The Book Thief This was an English essay I wrote in Grade 12 - it was basically an excuse to talk about why I love The Book Thief so much.

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One way Zusak uses Death to heighten the suspense of the novel is by foreshadowing the outcomes to certain events. There are numerous occurrences when the narrator, Death, uses foreshadowing to keep the reader interested in the story and to further on certain thematic ideas in the novel. Here, it is being foreshadowed that Hans Hubermann would later be a part of the Nazi Party at some point of his life. After knowing about his earlier rejections from the Nazi Party, readers believed that Hans would not be drafted at all. This piece of information given by the narrator leaves readers curious and wanting to know more about how Hans will join, which enhances the suspense. In addition, Death also foreshadows the outcome of the event in which bombs had came into Himmel Street.

Perhaps its to soften the blow for later, or to later prepare myself for the telling. In the parts of the novel where Death foreshadows the outcomes to certain events heightens the suspense as readers start to wonder what the effects of the bombing will be and how they will change the course of the novel. After readers are given this information by the narrator, tension is increased in every scene of the novel regarding Rudy. He did not. Here, it is explained that in two years, Rudy was going to die. What is left for readers to wonder is how Rudy died, which elevated the suspense for the upcoming events pertaining the rest of the novel. Mama and Papa slept. Frau Holtzapfel, Frau Diller. Tommy Muller. All sleeping. All dying. Suspense and tension are created for the reader at this moment because this foreshadows an extremely important event in the novel that pertains to the main characters.

Suspense is built as readers start to wonder the details of this event. Using foreshadowing to show the passings of characters, Death creates thematic ideas and engages the reader into the story through heightened suspense that is created. When By revealing how characters die early on and telling the reader the outcome, Zusak makes the novel more suspenseful with his use of vague descriptions of the scenes which he is foreshadowing. Hi there, would you like to get such an essay? How about receiving a customized one? Check it out goo. Home Page Literature Novel The Book Thief The Book Thief Essay.

The Book Thief Essay. Related Essays. Essay About Characters of the Book Thief Words 3 Pages. Depending on whether the novel or the film is analyzed, different content and structure are expected. Read more. apply filters cancel. A Look at The Theme of Irony When Reading The Book Thief words 2 Pages. Here is a novel where a main character is nothing less than the symbol of mortality itself, Death, yet the story continually celebrates the life spirit that is contained within books. The Book Thief. Adolf Hitler, Andreas Hillgruber, Beer Hall Putsch, Bruno Ganz, Fiction, Führer, Max, Meaning of life, Mein Kampf, Nazi Germany. Humanity is always engaged in an eternal power struggle between good and evil, and the well being of society often hangs in the balance when such forces collide. Adolf Hitler, Andreas Wilson, Antisemitism, Ashkenazi Jews, English-language films, Evil, Fascism, Germany, Good and evil, Hungary.

In Section II, Liesel moves in with Hans and Rosa Hubermann, who are her foster parents. When she has nightmares in the middle of the night, In The Book Thief, Zusak expounds upon the concept of death as a passive force and not a vengeful creature. This unconventional characterization is validated Cruelty, Death, English-language films, Life, Malicious Intent, Markus Zusak, Question, Reincarnation, The Reader. It was a snowy night when Liesel Meminger the book thief and her brother Werner which is six years old, were travelling with their mother by train to the town Munich. This town is where Liesel and her brother will be given over into the The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is set in Nazi Germany in World War II.

Adolf Hitler, Andreas Hillgruber, Benito Mussolini, Ernst Röhm, Fascism, Germany, Israel, Jews, Judaism, Karl Dönitz. And of course, there is Death. Set in Nazi Germany during the s, The Adolf Hitler, Death, Markus Zusak, Nazi Germany, Nazi Party, Nazism, Time, World War II. The Book Thief is a film adaptation of the book of the same name, depicting World War II. It begins with Paula Meminger travelling with her children to their Film Analysis The Book Thief. Adolf Hitler, Albert Speer, Allies of World War II, Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Auschwitz concentration camp, Axis powers, Benito Mussolini, Fascism, Germany, Hitler Youth. Liesel Meminger loses her first family, her brother dying and her parents giving her away.

Her second family is the Hubermanns, Hans and Rosa. Partway through the story, Max Vandenburg also joins the family. A Story, Family, Harvey Korman, Markus Zusak, Michael L. Printz Award, Sleep. Mentors often assert their dominance over individuals and teach them the morals required to live in society. These individuals adapt to society and can comfortably live a good life,