The Book Thief Modernism Essay

In a state of conflict, the victor’s perspective is more worthy of attention that of the other party. However, through the novel, the Book Thief, Markus Zusak develops a new perspective of history. The perspective of the innocent, vulnerable and powerless in Germany during World War 2. The Book Thief was published in 2005 and centres its plot on a ten-year-old girl, Liesel Meminger, living both a beautiful yet catastrophic life. Death, a personified fictitious narrator, unveiled the different and unique approach to a modernist text therefore made the novel a posy modernist text. Characteristics of postmodernism identified in the book include, temporal distortion, irony and black humour and the rejection of high and low culture. The foreshadowing of multiple events is divulged through temporal distortion. All through the text, Death exhibits irony and black humour. The allusion to other book within the Book Thief symbolises the rejection of high and low culture. The Book Thief deliberately acknowledged the development of the new perspective of history while letting readers be conscious of the different side of the story. …show more content…
In the other hand, Max and Liesel are only seen as common people of the society however, heavy weight of emphasis was placed on the protagonists by Death. “Max had a full collection of the pages of Mein Kampf painted over in white.” The rejection of high and low culture is evident as a commoner like Max paints over the words of an influential man to write his own story. As for Liesel, Death compliments her book the Book Thief, “There’s a multitude of stories… The Book Thief is one such story.” The rejection of high and low culture develops a new perspective of history, specifically in World War 2. This is because it showcases that common people also have great stories to tell than of someone like