Analysis OfThe Book Thief, And Between Shades Of Gray

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a girl living in Nazi Germany through perspective of death. Just nine years old when her brother dies and her mother leaves her in the care of the Hubermanns, Lisel turns to the comfort of books to ease her pain. However, as she grows up the innocent words in her books lead her to discover the immense pain words carry through the horrific doings of Hitler, a man beloved by many Germans. The portrayal of life in Nazi Germany depicted by the Book Thief is accurate due to events in the book such as the book burning, the Hitler Youth, encounters of hate shown to Jews, and Germany’s invasion of Russia.

Liesel’s empowerment stems from three sovereign aspects, from discovering the influence of words through books, to discovering new ideas and concepts, and revolting against the horrific Nazi agenda. The younger generation in The Book Thief during Nazi Germany shows a constant hope for the Jewish people in the future. Liesel’s empowerment not only benefits her, but it benefits other people as well, like Max. “Now I think we are friends, this girl and me. On her birthday it was she who gave a gift to me” (Max 35.20) this quote reveals the trust that Max has put into Liesel because of her strong willed empowerment, which gives him strength to keep continuing his journey with the family.

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, takes place in 1940s Nazi Germany in the small town of Molching. The main character, Liesel Meminger, takes on a role as the foster child of Hans and Rosa Hubermann. She also meets a young boy named Rudy Steiner, who goes on to be her best friend and lover. In the book, Liesel faces many challenges big and small. From hiding a Jew in the basement to a thieving lifestyle, Liesel has to learn to overcome all of life's problems. Through all of this, she is supported by her foster father Hans Hubermann who is caring to people he barely knows, intelligence despite his lack of education, and generosity even when he has little for himself.

According to Napoleon Bonaparte, courage isn’t having the strength to go on … it’s going on when you don’t have strength. Liesel, Max and Hans are the main characters in “The Book Thief” that have acts of courage entirely change their lives. This novel takes place during WWII in Germany. Countless Jews are desperately looking for the courage to endure the harsh rule of the Nazis. On the other hand there are some Germans who use their courage to stand against the Nazis in their own exceptional ways. The characters in “The Book Thief’ show acts of courage and this greatly affects the course of their life and relationships with other characters.

Liesel Meminger is the daughter of Paula Meminger. She is also the sister of late Warren Meminger. Consequently, she steals the first book in the novel, called The Gravedigger's Handbook. Therefore, Death gave her the nickname of “ the book thief” before us knowing that she would become “the book thief”. Liesel Meminger is the hardworking, book-thieving, kind-hearted protagonist of The Book Thief. She loves books so much that she steals them, even before knowing how to read. All of this started because stealing books reminds her of Warren Meminger. This is even she bonds more with Hans Hubermann, her foster father, dedicates his time to teach her how to read. We might be asking, why hasn’t she gotten an education at the age of 10. The answer is not as clear as others, but it definitely has to do with Liesel father’s communist affiliations. He was part of the German Communist Party, that was popular when Hitler took over. This is also the reason why she had to be fostered.

In literature, authors often use trauma to tell a character's backstory. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, he uses the character Liesel Mememger to portray trauma throughout the book; these traumatic experiences shape Liesel as a person. “She had seen her brother die with one eye open, still in a dream”. This quote is just one example of the trauma in Liesel's life. Many other tragic events occur in Liesel's life, and through these plot points in Liesel's life, such as the loss of her mother and brother, author Zusak helps the reader understand and recognize Liesel's painful and tragic life through the book, shaping her as a person and how Liesel overcomes these obstacles and shapes herself as a young woman.

The Book Thief is a historical novel written by Markus Zusak. It provides the readers a deeper understanding of the lives of Jews and Germans in Germany during the brutal Nazi regime and how they manage to survive. This includes not only the physical survival of the fittest, but also the survival of their moral beliefs. In addition to the author’s theme of inhumanity and humanity of man, he provides a background story for the characters in the book and how they are similar and different by their moral beliefs, their goals, their guilt, and their relationship with words. Two of the characters that are mentioned throughout the book to remind the readers of their struggles to survive in the Third Reich are Liesel and Max. Liesel is the foster daughter of Hans and Rosa Hubermann and “the book thief” who realizes the power of words in the Nazi community while Max is a fist fighter and German Jew who hides in Hans’s basement to escape from Nazi incarceration and eventually survives the concentration camp after he is arrested on his way to Stuttgart by the Nazis. Liesel and Max can be compared and contrasted through analyzing their struggles, includes their fear of the death, their guilt of

In the beginning of The Book Thief, the reader meets Liesel Meminger, her mother, and her brother, Werner Meminger. The father is never introduced. It is only said that he is a communist. Werner dies on the train to Himmel Street, the place that Liesel is left with a couple, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Liesel’s mother is never seen again, but the reader assumes that she was taken away for being one of the Nazi’s targets. According to The Book Thief, “What came to her then was the dustiness of the floor, the feeling that her clothes were more next to her than on her, and the sudden realization that this would all be for nothing—that her mother would never write back and she would never see her again.” Nazis were the epitome of evil. They tore families apart and killed millions of innocent people.

Over the course of one’s life, it is inevitable to encounter bumps in the road. Some might be small, and some might be big. The response to these “bumps” is the development of individuals all around us. Some difficulties in our life help us realize our true hidden potential, whereas some problems help us understand life as a whole, these make us the people we are today. Living and understanding the disputes symbolise who we are. For instance, in Mark Zusak's book, The Book Thief, the reader gets an understanding of how certain conflicts create attributes in the characters and how it can symbolise an individual. The author manipulates symbolism, and conflicts to develop Liesel from a young powerless child to a woman who represents strength,

In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, both authors uses stories of failure and suffering in order make the reader feel pity for the main characters and a bit of surprise toward at what horrible acts humanity is willing to commit during desperate times. The novel Night, by Elie Wiesel is about the author’s days during the time he was imprisoned at various concentration camps, Wiesel had suffered both physically and mentally, especially with his father dying towards the end. The Book Thief is about the story of a girl named Liesel Meminger and what happened after her mother handed her off to two foster parents named Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Even though Liesel was not imprisoned like Elie, she still faces many problems such as the nightmares she experienced every night.

The developmental stage of a young child’s life is very crucial and can be impacted by the media. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger is a young girl living in a very important part of Germany’s history, the Second World War. Liesel’s childhood unfolds and develops against the backdrop of a time when words, books specifically were used for power and control. Liesel is someone who has a love for reading and, as such, books become very important to her, not only for her education but for her rebellion and discovering her true identity. Throughout the novel, books become a crucial symbol used to convey the desires and discovery of identity for the main character as her childish ignorance changes to her mature adulthood.

Zusak as the author, demonstrates Liesel as a thief to compare her with other rebellious Germans. Throwback to the book Arrival On Himmel Street, death has written “Her knees entered the ground. Her moment had arrived. Still in disbelief, she started to dig. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t-” (23), these words indicate the similarities between Liesel and many other Germans during the period. As we all have known, during World War II, many German families has to suffer from separation. Childrens are separated from their parents, siblings are supported by each others. Just like Liesel, many in the time were departed from their parents on their way to their foster parents. Unfortunately for some of them, their siblings, who share the same journey with them cannot make it to the destination. Not only Liesel shares faiths with the rebellious German who are affected by the World War II, she is also experiencing the same feeling that they are sensing. They are all angry, they are in disbelief, that their loved ones have left them behind in the lonely world. Correspondingly, in the book The Woman With The Iron Fist, Issa has spoken “This is what I have to put up with, these rich bastards, these lazy swine…”(43). These words have spoken for the majority of Germans at the time. Through the words, the abusive tone of the character Issa, we can clearly see the spark of rebellious. Although these words were not directly from Liesel, we all know that “Who

Words can influence the mind in many ways that thought may not be able to. They are carefully placed and shared in different ways by each and every individual. Words have powerful impacts and can majorly impact how one may think, feel, or even lead others to feel. Written by Markus Zusak, “The Book Thief” describes a story of an innocent foster girl, Liesel Meminger, who resides in Munich, Germany at one of the most troubling time periods in history, Nazi Germany. A tale narrated by the one and only Death himself, shows the perspective from his point of view, as well as others, describing how Liesel had been seized away from her birth mother at a young age, and put into a foster family. Her new family, the Hubermanns. As she matures and grows into a more critical thinker, understanding and analyzing everything that carefully happens around her. Her foster-father, Hans guides her and teaches her how to read, which little does she know sparks her journey, the art of stealing books. Liesel soon discovers that words aren 't simply lines on a page, they are strong emotions packed into a form that merely is held in her delicate hands. Not only did she hold the pages of emotion, she held a power, a dangerous weapon of words, a weapon of control, and every book that she had stolen was giving her unimaginable power that made her think in ways that she would’ve never thought she could have. As with Nazi propaganda, and a gift that enabled her to broaden her worldview. Liesel evolves

Hope and courage are two feelings that are only powerful when used together. To be courageous and not hopeful is a suicide mission; on the other hand, having hope and no courage will never give one the urge to oppose the problem. In Markus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief, the whole story is the epitome of courage and hope. During the second world war, the young Liesel Meminger is adopted by the Hubermann family, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, who teach her the power of words, as well as the importance of kindness. Moreover, one of the themes of this novel is the creation of hope from courage, and it is shown through the author’s use of symbolism, allegory, as well as irony.

"No matter how many times she was told she was loved there was no recognition that the proof was in the abandonment" (Zusak 32). The novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young girl who struggles through WWII and faces the pain and suffering of abandonment. When one is faced with such an abandonment and is forced to cope on their own, they may feel lost and alone. These emotions force people to find comfort. As in Liesel 's case, some people find comfort in books and words. Liesel 's perspective on abandonment can be seen through how she coped with her childhood trauma, Max 's illness and the Himmel Street bombing.