Preview

Essay On The Book Thief

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1162 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On The Book Thief
The Book Thief

“The consequence of this is 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. (Death)” ― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief Markus Zusak is a writer best known for the worldwide known book The Book Thief (also translated into 40+ languages) but also wrote other books (Fighting Ruben Wolfe; Getting the Girl; I am the Messenger; The Book Thief; Underdogs). Zusak was born on June 23,1975 in the city of Sydney, Australia. His first 3 books were first published between 1999-2001 and then the other 2 were on the year of 2002 and 2005. He won many awards and honors but gained more recognition with The Book Thief with having the book the most sell and having it on the New York Times best sellers. Zusak’s ; The Book Thief; we could see the times in Germany when the Natzi’s ruled part of Europe and wanted more. Death/soul carrier, narrates the life of Liesel Meminger and the ‘real’ world around the time. Tells about Himmel (Heaven)
…show more content…
Her brother died halfway the trip and had to be buried somewhere nearby the railroad; that’s when Liesel stole the first book about how to dig a proper grave and when death and Liesel took a first glimpse of each other. After all the commotion, Liesel and her mother got to the designated train station and greeted her mother goodbye to never see again and head towards her new Mama and Papa on a new street; Himmel (Heaven) Street. There she meets her new best friend Rudy, a lemon haired boy that loved Liesel within at first sight; a new home and family for her, new surroundings with new people to like or dislike. Throughout the story, Liesel, meets new faces with good, soft, bad, or/and hard attitudes. take for example Mama (Rosa Hubermann), Papa ( Hans Hubermann), Ilsa

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Liesel Meminger suffers many struggles in her life, from the death of brother to the loss of her family, to the worry and hate she has for Hitler and everything he represents. In the beginning of the novel, she is a very young girl dealing with very grown-up situations, and yet she somehow manages to find beauty in all that she experiences. With every loss, Liesel also gains something. With every hardship, she also finds joy. Leisel struggles with the problems that Hitler brings to the country. She lives in a life of brutality yet she stills finds beauty in the world through words.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the time her neighborhood spent in the bomb shelter, Liesel found happiness in reading and shared it with her friends and family who also found happiness and serenity in her reading. In the beginning, when Liesel had discovered her first book she asked her new father to teach her how to read. Little did he know that the gift of reading that he had just given his daughter would help her and many other people. Another way the story shows the beauty of humanity and kindness is when the mayor's wife, Ilsa, let Liesel into their house so she can take books and continue her passion of reading. Ilsa would do this for Liesel because she saw that there was happiness in her when she read and that was a rare thing in those times of death. The beauty of humanity is shown in multiple ways. A third way is because of the death of Hans friend in an earlier war, he takes in that man’s son, Max, who is Jewish. The Hubermann family hides him in their basement and takes care of him for a number of months. This shows how in the awful times, some people can reach into their heart and care for people despite what might they stand for or who they…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plot * Liesel, her mother and her brother Werner are all travelling on a train, to greet Werner’s and Liesels foster parents. * Liesel, illiterate has a dream o Adolf Hitler and speaks to him in broken German. * As she is half awake, Liesels brother dies, and there were two Nazi soldiers who argue on weather they leave the body there or take it with them. * Both Liesel and her mother are traumatized by his sudden death and 2 days later he is buried. * After the ceremony finishes Liesel digs at his grave but is dragged away by her mother, but before getting on another train Liesel steals a book she is unable to even read the title of. * She is taken to a place in Munich called Himmel -"Heaven" to meet Rosa and Hans Hubermann, her foster parents. * She refuses to meet or get out of the car with her suitcase that only contains her clothes and the book she stole from her brother’s gravesite. * The only person that manages to get her out of the care is her foster father. * Liesel feels abandoned by her mother, but understands that it’s better for her to live there and be protected from the poverty; she also learns that her father was a communist, but she doesn’t yet know the meaning of that word. * Liesels foster mother acts harshly upon her and calls her a "pig girl" when she refuses to bathe, but claims to loves her. * Her foster father, Hans develops a closer relationship with her and teaches her how to roll cigarettes. she starts calling them "mama" and "papa" * Liesel got terrible nightmares about her brother the first few months and was accompanied by Hans, who she kept the book hidden from. * She kept the book as a symbol reminding her the last time she saw her brother, and the last time she saw her mother. * Liesel is put in school but has to stay with a much younger grade, just learning the alphabet. When she turns ten she joins the Hitler Youth. * Liesel makes a friend names Rudy who…

    • 1453 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Markus Zusak’s poignant novel The Book Thief chronicles the struggles of a young bibliophile who suffers great losses during the time of the Holocaust. Death trails Liesel Meminger as she slowly develops literacy and a passion for pilfering novels. The theme of death recurs throughout the novel as it presents itself continuously within tragedy and suffering.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The relationship between Rosa and Liesel was rather intriguing. Rosa loved Liesel just as Liesel loved her but it seemed Rosa did not respect Liesel from the way she talked to her. I could not begin to understand how Liesel could take the abuse from her and not react. I understand that Liesel is grateful to her and deep down Rosa cares but the women has a mean outer presence. I suppose if I were fostered in her home I would learn to love her since she does care deep down.…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Markus Zusak's ‘The Book Thief’, an illiterate naive child, Liesel Meminger steals books. The books stolen by Liesel represent her grievance, defiance, and growth. Zusak uses books as important symbols throughout his story.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Book Thief underline book title By: Markus Zusak Lauren Conforti’s Bajillion Project-¨A new experience that can be added to the book.¨ As Liesel Meminger, now parentless, was taken to the gestapo capitalize “Gestapo” station, all she could think about was where she would go. Who would even take her? Most definitely, it would be different than Mama’s swearing and Pea lowercase “pea” soup and Papa’s accordion playing and book teaching. ¨Why me?¨ she always thought.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As seen by the reader throughout the novel, it is evident that Liesel is traumatized by the events that occur during her childhood. As a girl, Liesel is seen to go through many difficult times, in which she needs the constant support of her foster parents but does not receive that. She tries her best to stand alone but realizes that it is not possible because of the situations she faces. This is demonstrated when the author writes,…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Book Thief

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages

    One of the main themes of the Book Thief is how the use of words, for good or for evil, can change everything. His choice to use Death as a narrator was a great idea, as Death watches, and can describe from many points of view what he sees, and his use of words is very powerful.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Book Thief Symbolism

    • 1255 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Over the course of one’s life, it is inevitable to hit bumps in the roads. 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. Or some problems help us understand life as a whole, but it makes us who we are today. Living and understanding the disputes symbolises 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, Hans Hubermann into a father figure, and the narrator, Death.…

    • 1255 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl growing up in Nazi Germany. Death narrates her life story from his perspective, as they come in each other's presences in a total of three times. The book starts when Liesel, her brother, and their mother get on a train to go to their new foster home in Molching, Germany, but her brother tragically dies along the way. After he dies, Liesel steals her first book out of many; titled The Grave Diggers Handbook. Liesel grows to like life in Molching with her new parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann and meets her best friend and neighbor Rudy Steiner. Over the years, she proceeds to steal and receives many books; some from burning piles of Jewish belongings…

    • 162 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Book Thief, readers follow through the childhood of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl growing up in Nazi Germany during World War II, all through the interesting perspective of Death. After losing her entire family, she is adopted into a new family, and gradually adapts to a new life in the town of Molching, on a street named Himmel. She learns how to live with her two adoptive parents: a stern, “small wardrobe-sized” mother who swears “Saumensch” on a daily basis, and a father who plays the accordion, with eyes made of warm melting silver, and is fond of rolling and smoking cigarettes. She meets her first friend, Rudy, through a game of soccer on the street. She attends school, and struggles to learn how to read and write. Gradually, with the help of her father, Hans Hubermann, she is able to achieve that goal, and thus begins her love of words and books.…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Book Thief

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Death uncloaks himself and steps out of the shadows extending his hand to greet the reader as soon as a copy of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is opened. With these words the narrator of the story, death, describes himself in a manner that one would never have imagined before, making the power of words shine bright on the first page. Throughout The Book Thief, the power, irony, and usefulness of literature is shown in the setting of Nazi Germany during World War II. A young girl by the name of Liesel Meminger becomes a master of her own with words. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing something she can’t resist–-books. With the help of her foster parents and an unlikely stowaway Liesel learns that without knowing the force of words, it is impossible to know more. Liesel learns that through knowing the power of words, you can achieve greatness in life. These lessons are learned through a story, a beating, and an autobiography. With words written on a page, Liesel learns her first lesson.…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Book Thief Narrative

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages

    He or she understood the emotions that Liesl felt when her brother died and the emotions that were felt when Liesel and Rudy were about to get caught stealing apples with the others. He felt and understood all of them. If Liesel hid her feelings deep down and none of the characters knew about it, parts of the story might not make since if she all of a sudden exploded with what ever emotion she kept within. It also lets us understand their personalities or relationships. For if we didn't know about the emotions that were running through the Liesel head when her brother died how would we know that she was sad. She could have been extremely happy. This would let us know about their relationship. If she was sad she probably had a good relationship with her sibling but if she was happy she most likely didn't have they nest relationship and or was treated badly by her brother, and had a possibly abused.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There aren’t many writers who could get away with the idea of death, the Nazis, and the burning of taboo books in one novel, but Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief, seems to achieve just that. The book is narrated by Death himself, about the story of a young girl called Liesel, who is the epynonymous book thief. She lives with her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Liesel cannot read but, with the support and guidance of Hans, teaches herself to read a whole manner of things, and when her curiosity is not satisfied she takes to stealing the books . As the novel reaches the end, you see Max leaving the family for his and their own safety, leaving Liesel alone with her words. If you can see the end of the novel through your tears, you’ll…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays