The Book Thief: A different perspective
11/7/2015 0 Comments "Here is a small fact. You are going to die." The 'Book Thief', narrated through the eyes of 'Death' begins with this startling remark. This book, set in Germany during the Second World, is, among other things, about a girl named Liesel and her experiences from this horrible time. Courage could be considered as the main theme. The writer of the Book Thief is Markus Zusak. As a child he grew up hearing stories about the childhood of his parents, who lived in Munich and Vienna at the time of the war. According to an interview to Markus Zusak, some scenes from the book are based on the experiences of his parents. The main thesis he wants to make clear in his book is that there is …show more content…
Liesel enjoys her new life, reads her first books and gets along well with her new papa, an accordionist who is able to cheer her up after the ever-repeating nightmares about the death of her brother. But apart from that, everything is all right. And she is happy. But what Liesel does not know is that the misery has not come to its end.
Courage is a quality that can be found in all main characters. Therefore it can be considered as the books main theme. The author shows how important courage probably was during the Second World War and, on the other side of the coin, how dangerous.
Another important theme discussed in the Book Thief is suffering, which is not strange, keeping in mind that the story is set during the war. Hunger, cold, fear, the battlefield... And most important, the loss of the people close to you, the people you loved. From the beginning to the ending of the book, suffering is a great subject.
The author makes clear that the Second World War was mostly fought with words. "Yes, the Fuhrer decided that he would rule the world with words." As is stated in the book on page 475. The power of words is clearly illustrated in the novel. The author makes use of the definitions of words from a dictionary to give them a bigger meaning. To give an example from page …show more content…
Silence was not quiet or calm, and it was not peace."
Yes, the author - or is it Death? - makes a great deal of describing the mood. It is quite special that Death is the narrater of the book. In this way it makes the reader awear of the effects of the war. He is a result of the war indeed. There would not be a better way to show that.
Furthermore the author makes use of symbols. He gives particular words or objects an extra meaning. Such as the accordion: Hans always plays the accordion to cheer up people; mostly loved ones. Therefore it stands for friendship and joy. Other examples of symbols, to which you might want to pay attention when you read the book, are the seven-sided dice, colours and books.
In my opion, the author has done a great job in achieving his goal. The book gives a different perspective than you are perhaps used to: Not everyone in Nazi-Germany supported the ideas of Hitler. This becomes very clear when you read the book. The Book Thief is a very different book compared to other books about the Second World War, because it shows a different view on the Germans and it does not zoom in on the suffering during the battles, but the suffering of the ones who stay home. The life of the normal Germans, and especially the ones who did not agree with the racist ideas, is very well described in the novel. However, other parts involved
11/7/2015 0 Comments "Here is a small fact. You are going to die." The 'Book Thief', narrated through the eyes of 'Death' begins with this startling remark. This book, set in Germany during the Second World, is, among other things, about a girl named Liesel and her experiences from this horrible time. Courage could be considered as the main theme. The writer of the Book Thief is Markus Zusak. As a child he grew up hearing stories about the childhood of his parents, who lived in Munich and Vienna at the time of the war. According to an interview to Markus Zusak, some scenes from the book are based on the experiences of his parents. The main thesis he wants to make clear in his book is that there is …show more content…
Liesel enjoys her new life, reads her first books and gets along well with her new papa, an accordionist who is able to cheer her up after the ever-repeating nightmares about the death of her brother. But apart from that, everything is all right. And she is happy. But what Liesel does not know is that the misery has not come to its end.
Courage is a quality that can be found in all main characters. Therefore it can be considered as the books main theme. The author shows how important courage probably was during the Second World War and, on the other side of the coin, how dangerous.
Another important theme discussed in the Book Thief is suffering, which is not strange, keeping in mind that the story is set during the war. Hunger, cold, fear, the battlefield... And most important, the loss of the people close to you, the people you loved. From the beginning to the ending of the book, suffering is a great subject.
The author makes clear that the Second World War was mostly fought with words. "Yes, the Fuhrer decided that he would rule the world with words." As is stated in the book on page 475. The power of words is clearly illustrated in the novel. The author makes use of the definitions of words from a dictionary to give them a bigger meaning. To give an example from page …show more content…
Silence was not quiet or calm, and it was not peace."
Yes, the author - or is it Death? - makes a great deal of describing the mood. It is quite special that Death is the narrater of the book. In this way it makes the reader awear of the effects of the war. He is a result of the war indeed. There would not be a better way to show that.
Furthermore the author makes use of symbols. He gives particular words or objects an extra meaning. Such as the accordion: Hans always plays the accordion to cheer up people; mostly loved ones. Therefore it stands for friendship and joy. Other examples of symbols, to which you might want to pay attention when you read the book, are the seven-sided dice, colours and books.
In my opion, the author has done a great job in achieving his goal. The book gives a different perspective than you are perhaps used to: Not everyone in Nazi-Germany supported the ideas of Hitler. This becomes very clear when you read the book. The Book Thief is a very different book compared to other books about the Second World War, because it shows a different view on the Germans and it does not zoom in on the suffering during the battles, but the suffering of the ones who stay home. The life of the normal Germans, and especially the ones who did not agree with the racist ideas, is very well described in the novel. However, other parts involved