The Book Thief Theme

Hope is elusive and one needs courage to ensure it does not fly away. In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak develops the theme of courage and hope throughout the novel, showing people need both to survive. He portrays the theme effectively through the characterization of Liesel as well as the symbolism of Hans Hubermann’s accordion.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along. '” <Brainyquote.com> Throughout the novel the Hubermanns demonstrate tremendous courage. Like what Eleanor Roosevelt says, the Hubermanns really did look fear right in the face. One example of this is, they allowed a Jew to hide in their home, going directly against the law and belief of Nazi Germany despite the harsh consequences that could be waiting for them (Zusak 173). The family all cared for the Jews, and put their

In Markus Zusak’s book The Book Thief, Liesel comes to Himmel Street to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann. There she meets Rudy Steiner who becomes her best friend. As the book continues, they become more than friends.

Her papa never berated her, but instead, would read to her and slowly taught her how to read and write. Liesel’s mama, Rosa, on the other hand, is strict and would always go on tirades about everything that annoyed her. Despite Rosa’s mean demeanor, Liesel obeyed her by delivering the laundry Rosa washed and ironed to people because she knew Rosa loved her. When Liesel delivered laundry to the mayor’s house, the mayor’s wife let Liesel come in and read books in her library. One day, when money got tight, the mayor’s wife, along with everyone else Liesel delivered to, informed her that they could no longer employ Rosa.

The 1930s and 40s were a very chaotic and scary time for a lot of people all over the world, but especially throughout Europe. During this time Adolf Hitler, a very corrupt and manipulative dictator in Germany, was a very prominent public figure and he was known for his persecution of jews. Because of this, many people were concerned more with themselves than with anyone else in a time where people should have been coming together and standing up for what’s right.

The book I selected is the Book Thief, a fictional 3rd person narrated story about an orphaned German girl name Liesel, and her life a few years before, and during WW2. When the story begins, she is with her brother and mother on a train car traveling to a fictional town called Mulching, a town near Munich. On the way, her brother suffered from an unknown illness, and coughs blood up and dies. When they dumped him out and dug his grave, she found her first book about digging graves. She later arrived at Mulching, and her mother left her to a new family, Rosa and Hans. The reason why she was given away was because her father and likely her mother were communists, which wasn’t allowed in Nazi Germany during the time. Her adoptive father, Hans

“So much good, so much evil. Just add water.” - Markus Zusak. This is a quote from my favorite book, The Book Thief. The book thief is about a foster child, Liesel Meminger, living in World War II Germany where death is abundant and books are scarce. In grade 7, the holocaust was a major topic in the syllabus and through the research we did and books we read, we could recall information about what had happened in our sleep. With the many books our classroom library had to offer, I chose the book thief for the mystery you would only unveil after getting to the very last sentence. However, you could bypass how long they made you wait to reveal the surprise as each page brought both tears and laughter. When I got to the last page, I could not

In the original book, Zusak conveys the gravity of Liesel’s situation with many descriptions of the war raging around Germany and visions of the atrocities against the Jews. On the other hand, the movie edits out these descriptions, making it very hard for the viewer to assimilate how much danger the Hubermanns and Max are in. In part five, The Whistler, Max begins training to fight Hitler. The reader observes Max in an imaginary boxing match with the Fuhrer, with the odds completely against him (252). This scene shows the metaphorical struggle that the Jewish people are having with Hitler.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak was an overall good book. The book was about a girl named Liesel and her adoption family named the Hubermanns. The book takes place in Molching, Germany, and is set in World War II. Liesel’s new family is very known where they live; her new father name,Hans, is a painter and her new mother name is Rosa and she douse laundry for her wealthy people on her street. During her time there Hans teachers her how to read. This is when she starts taking books hence the name of the book. Liesel starts to think of her adoption family as her new loving family. When WWII got really bad her family shelters a jewish boy named Max. They shelter the boy because his father saved Hans life. I think that there are many themes in

The theme of the story is to appreciate what you have in life. Rudy and Rosa are two of the many killed in the bombings at the end of the story and Liesel has several regrets. She regrets never expressing to Rudy that she loved him and also regrets never appreciating Rosa for all the work she did to support her and her family.

The book that I will be discussing is The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. This historical fiction novel's central question is about how humans can do both the most beautiful and the most cruel of things. Therefore, this central question is, what are humans capable of? How are they capable of such great things, as well as such horrible things? In this essay, I will demonstrate how the historical and cultural context of The Book Thief relate to the setting and advance the theme.

Google defines conflict as ‘a serious incompatibility between two or more opinions, principles, or interests.’ and it is with this definition in mind that I shall explore three facets of conflict as presented within the texts I have studied. The first kind of conflict I will explore is ideological conflict. Ideological conflict is a clash of ideas which are incompatible or opposite. This can manifest in overarching themes of the texts, or within political struggles in the context of the stories. The second kind of conflict is internal conflict. Internal conflict takes place within the thoughts of a character, when they are caught between two contradictory paths of action, such as choosing between right and wrong. The third kind of conflict

Some say, most of our mistakes are the results of allowing emotion to overrule logic. We knew the right choice but didn’t obey. However, others feel as though their emotions influence who they are and without emotions being in the picture, they would make inhuman decisions. This may be true in some scenarios, but in all consideration, emotions cause an uproar of disastrous events in your life. Stolen is a must-read book that opens up the eyes of the lives of many teenagers today. This book shows how your own decisions influence the way the remainder of your life turns out.

I watched as her eyes started to shine as if she had found what or who she was looking for “Max! I’m here!” he did not hear her, again “I’m here, Max!”. His face turned. I then realised why she was seeking towards me, Max Vandenburg was who she was wanting. Just as she reached us I looked towards Max his face was filled with emotions “I can’t believe…” was all that spilled out of his dried lips at first, “Look how much you’ve grown” was what he said next. They both looked as though they had for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but we were sadly not near any rainbow nor did we have any gold. Max’s eyes swelled with sadness as he spoke the mystery girl's name “Liesel”. I stopped focusing on their conversation as I noticed a guard staring right in our direction, I tried to warn them but I could barely lift my arm let alone breathe some words. Finally I was able to scrape a yelp from the bottom of my throat. It was enough for Max to notice the guard too. “You have to let go of my Liesel” Max spoke. Even I could tell that last thing Liesel wanted was to leave Max behind. Watching her hold on to his arm made me remember of the last time I saw my family what has happened to them now I still do not

The Book Thief, directed by Brian Percival, and The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, directed by Mark Herman, are both films that share similar themes and are focused on the time of war during Hitler’s reign of power. In both films, the idea of innocence is portrayed and corrupted through the friendship of child protagonists, influence of father figures, characterisation of children in war and the narrative perspectives. Symbolism, motifs and themes in these two films are explored to emphasise how innocence is portrayed and corrupted throughout the texts.