Symbolism In The Book Thief

The Book Thief is a historical fiction novel by Markus Zusak set in Munich, Germany during the Nazi reign from 1936-1943. The novel incorporates a main character that is, in the beginning, an innocent child who doesn't understand the world and takes her on a journey where she grows up and matures through the hardships and challenges of her life. The story is narrated by the character Death, who is a fresh take on the Grim Reaper, only wearing the black cloak when it's cold and never carries a syte. Death describes the life Liesel Meminger, an orphaned girl who witnesses her brother's death and burial and finds herself being adopted by the benevolent old couple, the Hubermanns. The rest of the story follows Liesel's journey through her incredibly challenging life with the Hubermanns and characters such as Rudy, The mayor's wife, and Max helping her along. Symbolism in The Book Thief deepens the story by conveying many different ideas and emotions that supports the reader's understanding of the story. This is especially apparent with the use of the gravediggers to help the reader remember characters, the use of color to help the reader feel the proper emotions and remember the correct events, and the use of Liesel's changing feelings about Rudy to convey how Liesel grows and matures through the book.

Lastly, Liesel and Frau Holzapfel develop a relationship, “Strangely, one of Liesel’s favourite distractions was Frau Holzapfel. The reading sessions included Wednesday now as well, and they’d finished the water-abridged version of The Whistler and were on to The Dream Catcher. The old woman sometimes made teas or gave Liesel some soup that was indefinitely better than Mama’s.” (Zusak 439). Although Liesel did not originally like Frau Holzapfel because she was quite rude and cruel but she begins to develop a fondness of her and even enjoys her company. This develops the theme because it shows that even an uptight old woman can learn to love life by learning to enjoy words. The theme, the power of words, is minimized in the film as only the scenes in which Liesel and Frau Hermann and Liesel and Rudy develop relationships. By only showing this one does not fully see how much words can impact a community. Therefore, the novel The Book Thief develops the relationship between Liesel Meminger and her neighbours more than the film The Book Thief thereby minimizing the theme.

Liesel, the book thief herself, steals books in times of pain. All six books Liesel steals are metaphors for the feelings of loss and pain during the time of which the book was stolen. She uses the books to grow knowledge of the situations occurring around her, one stolen book in particular is “The Gravedigger’s Handbook” This book is the first of all books Liesel steals, and it is the book that caused her to grow to love words, coincidently, she finds this book in the snow on the day of her brother’s death, which is when she was filled with grief and abandonment. This book is a symbol for Liesel’s grief and as she tries to learn how to read the book, her twisted comfort in the story shows how the words had a powerful effect on her grieving process shown by the quotation, “…Not to mention the morbidity of the subject. As for the girl, there was a sudden desire to read it that she didn't even attempt to understand” (Zusak, 66)

To begin, in The Book Thief, books seem to provide Liesel with hope in many ways . First, Liesel reads her books in hope that they will distract her from her harsh reality of living during a war, and having Hitler as a leader. This is displayed in the following quotation,”Liesel opened one of her books and began to read. The book on the top of the pile was The Whistler and she spoke it aloud to help her concentrate,” (Zusak 381). Within this quotation, one sees that Liesel reads her books to in the hope

The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak shows how the impact on the power of language has on Liesel Meimeger through the structure of the novel. The structure of the novel shows the development of the character Liesel, highlighting the impact of the power of language. In her development, she finds the ability to express herself as well as to connect to others. Books become a comfort to her and heal her, they help her grow strong relationships with other characters in her life. However, she also sees the damage words have caused through Nazi propaganda, understanding that Hitler 's words have been the cause of suffering of the people in her life. Despite this, the structure of the novel shows the ability of the character to understand that

11 million people died during the Holocaust. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Liesel Meminger loses many of her loved ones. At the beginning of the book, Liesel’s brother dies of illness on a train, and her mother is taken away by the Nazis for being a communist. After losing everyone she ever cared about, the story drags Liesel into a humble household where she discovers her passion for books, and her love for her family and friends. However, her loved ones are once again torn away from her as Himmel Street, the street she lives on, gets bombed. She loses her foster parents, her best friend, and everyone else she came to know. As a result of these adverse events, Liesel’s innocence was stolen from her. In The Book Thief, loss plays an essential role in developing characters, especially Liesel. After losing Werner, her brother, Liesel is plagued by

After reading and scrutinizing The Book Thief, one can see that bread, the accordion, and books, the three main symbols used in the novel, are indispensable to the merriment of the book. To add information, these three symbols all represent different things, actions, and people, but can all be compared and contrasted. Three different ways that these emblems can be compared and contrasted is by looking at what they represent, why they represent it, and the reasoning behind why the author used that specific symbol.

Liesel Meminger, coined “The Book Thief”, exhibits extraordinary acts of courage within the literary work. Since birth, Meminger has faced hardships; she deals with the absence of her father, the death of her younger brother, and the abandonment by her mother all within several years. These adversities lead to the development of Meminger’s courageous nature, which she displays throughout the novel. Acts of her courage include stealing books and trusting the Hubermanns After attending her brother’s funeral, Liesel notices that one of the gravediggers has dropped a novel. Looking around to make sure no one is watching her, she collects the book and hides it; stealing this book ignites the fire and desire inside of her to learn how to read and expand her knowledge. After Liesel Meminger arrives to the Hubermanns’ house in Molching, Germany, she has to be coaxed out of the car. Finally, Hans Hubermann, later known as Papa, is the successor in luring the child out of the car, he immediately gains her trust, unlike his cold counterpart, Rosa Hubermann. Despite Rosa’s foul mouth and direct orders, “Saumensch. You call me Mama when you talk to me” (Zusak 35), Liesel eventually learns to trust and love her. Learning to love and to trust the Hubermanns shows how courageous Liesel truly is since she had previously faced the abandonment/death of two parents.

Liesel discovers that by educating herself, she has the capability to allow herself to survive her desperate circumstances, while developing bonds with others. Liesel has gone through a lot and been in desperate circumstances. She uses her books as a way to persevere, she discovers the “book [with] silver writing on it,”(pg 21) it represents the end of a phase and a beginning of a new one. Liesel quickly adapts to reading, to mourn the loss of her brother, since she found the book where they buried her him. During the book burning, there is an opportunity for Liesel to retrieve more books, “the book thief [has] struck,” (pg 22) for the first time.

“As it turned out, Ilsa Hermann not only gave Liesel Meminger a book that day. She also gave her a reason to spend time in the basement, her favorite place, first with Papa, than Max. She gave her a reason to write her own words, to see that words had also brought her to life” (524). When Liesel first arrives in Molching, she does not trust anyone. She is angry because she doesn't know how to read and her classmates make fun of her. Her foster father, Hans Hubermann, teaches her to read and during their time together, Liesel finds a true love for reading. Liesel meets Ilsa Hermann while delivering her laundry to her. One night at a Nazi book burning, Ilsa sees Liesel steal a book. The next time that Liesel delivers their clothes, Ilsa waits for her with a stack of books in her hand. Liesel discovers that Ilsa has a library and that they connect through books. In the novel, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, his character, Ilsa Hermann, elucidates the theme of compassion through her actions towards Liesel. She shows this by letting Liesel read in her library, taking Liesel in after the bombing, and giving Liesel a book to write her own story.

“The Führer [Hitler] decided that he would rule the world with words. ‘I will never fire a gun,’ he devised. ‘I will not have to.’…” (Zusak 445) this excerpt comes from “The Word Shaker,” a short story written by Max Vandenburg in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The quote suggests that a plebian would effortlessly be able to use words rather than guns or other tools to take over the world, as Hitler actually did in the Holocaust. “The Word Shaker,” is just one of many paragons that demonstrate that words are very potent and are shown in The Book Thief through various actions of the characters.

After losing her mother and her brother, Liesel’s life and identity is changed drastically many times. It is through books that she discovers and becomes comfortable with this change. When she first meets Hans and Rosa Hubermann, her new foster parents, she does not wish to speak with them or get to know them. However, once Hans discovers Liesel with the book she stole when her brother was buried, The Gravedigger’s Manual, they bond over Hans teaching Liesel to read. Liesle describes the first time her and Hans have a lesson in the middle of the night: “She had done this at school, in the kindergarten class, but this time was better. … It was nice to watch Papa’s hand as he wrote the words and slowly constructed the primitive sketches” (Zusak

The overarching negative impact seen in The Book Thief is Hitler’s anti-Semitism, his extreme prejudice against Jews, and his ability to manipulate words and the minds of thousands of people. “The Fuhrer decided that he would rule the words with words… [the] finest, ugliest words…” (p. 445). While Hitler’s words started a war, his disdain for Jews and Communists allowed Max and Liesel to form a bond. In the beginning of The Book Thief, Liesel encounters two soldiers burning books. At first, she does not understand why, but later on, she realizes that books are a doorway to freedom and knowledge, something Hitler did not approve of, “The Germans loved to burn things. Shops, synagogues, Reichstag, houses, personal items, slain people, and of course, books” (p. 84). Liesel's road to freedom began with one book, The Gravedigger's Handbook.

If you believe in yourself and have dedication, pride, and never quit, you will be successful. Markus Zusak, the author of The Book Thief, creates a story of a young orphan named Liesel Meminger, who is living with her new foster family. She learns the wonders of reading from her foster father and grows to love books. During Liesel’s time with her new family, she shows determination through her efforts and kindness with her encounters with other people. Liesel in The Book Thief expresses her traits, such as hardworking, and bravery.

In history, art has been known as a production of works for emotional power. Art is formed by artists who have a story to share. It is used to express a deep emotion they cannot quite put into words, for example, sorrow or grief. Throughout the novel, Markus Zusak shows people distracting themselves from desperate times of sorrow through art. The use of art in The Book Thief represents creative outlets used as a coping mechanism for each character. The forms of art in the midst of pain are an accordion, a sketchbook, and books. To someone who were to pick up one of these items wouldn’t see much importance but to the main characters, they are what keeps them inspired and hopeful during the catastrophic events caused by Hitler.