Figurative Language In The Book Thief

In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, main character Liesel struggles to maintain the innocence of her childhood while combating the beliefs and hardships of living in Nazi Germany. The most predominant theme in this book was the use of fear and its complete and pure power when combined with death. As Mark Twain once said, “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” This quote truly explains the essence of The Book Thief, the fundamental reason being that death was the narrator. Which from start to finish, displayed the fears of a multitude of different people and how they see death, but more importantly how death sees them.

Commentary: Death is an omniscient narrator. He switches between many of the characters in the book. He describes many of the characters feelings, emotions, and thoughts throughout the story.

The “Climax” is the moment of greatest emotional intensity and/or the turning point in the story for the main character. The climax of The Book Thief is when the planes bombed Himmel Street while everyone was still asleep. It was the moment of greatest emotional intensity because Liesel had that kindness that spread around with those she meets, she cared deeply for Hans, Rosa, and Rudy, and when they died, you could feel the emotion that Liesel had, it was all too much. “In disbelief, Liesel buried her head into Rudy’s chest. She held his limp body, trying to keep him from lolling back, until she needed to return him to the butchered ground.” “She took a step and didn’t want to take any more, but she did. Slowly, Liesel walked to her mama and

Ambiguity is a concept I came across while reading The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak. The novel discussed numerous paradoxes of the human experience, and thus stimulated my mind into exploring branches of philosophy previously unknown to me. Though the concept is a simple one, the source of ambiguity is much more complicated. From my reading of this story and study in a psychology class, I learned that one’s natural instinct and nurturing environment is what affects one’s perspective. Equally important, no matter how similar common the human condition is, everyone is different. No person has the same life experiences, and thus has a different perspective. These conflicting perspectives are what lead to ambiguity, which leads me to quite a harsh

He tells the story from his point of view as he takes a special interest in Liesel Meminger, by watching her and reading her stories. Death feels like he has an emotional connection with humans, and therefore dislikes his job of taking souls away. “It kills me sometimes, how people die…He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It’s his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry” (Zusak, 329). Death feels like his job is a punishment,which makes it difficlult for him because he shouldn’t have a conscience but he does. The way he narrates the novel, makes us feel like he’s trapped inside. As he watched over Liesel, there were obstacles that got in the way. He didn’t have a choice when he had to take the Hubermann’s and Rudy’s life away. At the night of the Nazi book burning, Liesel looked around to see if anyone is watching her steal the book, but all along she did’t know that Death witnessed all her acts of thievery. In The Book Thief, death is an example of an atypical narrative structure whom takes upon himself to watch over an orphan who lost all her loved one’s after the bombings on Himmel street. The way the story was narrated made the novel seem more interesting, and makes us view it in a different

Death is a very well-known figure that is feared by many in all countries. He is suspected of being cruel, disturbing and all synonyms of horrifying. Death is inevitable and that is the most fearing aspect of his persona. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Death is made to seem or resemble humans. Effectively using the narration role, Death introduces a unique description and definition of colors in which he uses as a tool to effectively engage the readers to the events occurring throughout the book. He also demonstrates him personal and different experiences as well, mostly about soul gathering and the implications of WWII that have affected him. On the contrary to Death’s dead, appalling and scary nature that many interpret him to be

Words are everywhere, words make up books, and the power of words make The Book Thief which will never be able to be improved upon. Words help us communicate with others, but mainly they have positive and negative sides to them. In the novel, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Death narrates the story while Liesel Meminger also tells her story of living in Nazi, Germany. We will discuss how there are many people such as Max Vandenburg and Liesel Meminger who choose to use to use their power of words in the positive way. We will also discuss how people also like to use their power of words in the negative way such as Adolf Hitler. The power of words are very effective especially in Markus Zusak’s writing, and we’ll discuss the main parts of the book which have been effected with the power of words.

In the story The Book Thief, the author Markus Zusak does and amazing job of using literary devices in his story. From metaphors, to similes, to personification and even onomonopeias. It puts images in your mind that in other looks you could not even imagine. It shows and tells what the person is doing and how they are doing it. These literary devices bring excitement and engagement to the writing. It makes you want to keep reading the book. His forms of figurative language come easy to zusak.

Throughout The Book Thief, death is portrayed as someone with a delicate side. “Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on your shoulder. I will carry you gently away.” (Zusak 4) Death is gentle with the souls that he carries. “ I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listened to their last, gasping cries. Their vanishing words. I watched their love visions and feed them from their fear.” (Zusak 350) During this chapter, death is

For my fiction book, I have decided to read “The Book Thief”, by the Australian writer Markus Zusak. The story begins with an introduction narrated by Death personified. I've found that unlike the many times I've read about this being and their thought process', this one is almost kinder in a way. It is not a heartless being that has merely grown bored of it's eternal task, it feels sympathy for those he effects, both directly and indirectly. It seems to take an almost childish interest in the main protagonist, Liesel Meminger, one filled with innocence and curiosity.

The acts of human nature can become a very difficult concept to understand. Markus Zusak uses Death throughout the The Book Thief to express the complexity of human nature. Death illustrates how complicated beings humans are and how they hold the capacity to act in both evil and beautiful ways. Throughout the novel Death helps give readers insight to the ignorance displayed and the pain it may cause a person. In the most troublesome and discriminatory times of the Holocaust, Death will point out the beautiful acts of compassion carried out by characters involved in the novel. Sometimes beauty and pain is mixed within the sacrifice some make for those they love and are loyal to.

Part One: Compare and contrast this persona of Death with the familiar personification of the Grim Reaper. How is Death from The Book Thief like the Grim Reaper, and how is he significantly different?

Death states that, “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both” (Zusak 491). This book shows us human doing things that weren’t even imaginable before this point. Many people give into ideas that were lies. But, we also watch a few people go out of their way and sacrifice everything for a man they barely even know. They do everything they can to keep him safe and alive. They work harder, the get another job, and they even steal. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, death examines the ugliness and the beauty of humans.

Words: Words are something we use everyday to communicate. Words make up sentences and books. We use words to convey meanings, to show feelings, and to communicate. The problem is that most people take this for granted. Most people do not know the power their words have, and the effect they have on other people. The power of words holds a strong meaning in the novel, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. During the book, different characters acquire power through their words and language, in both positive and negative ways.

Death is the main character, as well as the narrator of this story, yet the author provides us with no real description of her other than calling her a woman. Death narrates this tale in a way that leads us to believe that she is almost an omniscient being in the way that she is able to describe the dialogue between the servant and his master, but an omniscient narrator is incapable of being surprised himself or herself and we find this not to be the case in this story. I believe the author intended to do this in order to make Death appear mysterious, yet also familiar to the reader. Once Death is given human elements, like the ability to be surprised, it gives the illusion that one can cheat death.