Markus Zusak

1. Markus Zusak is a critically acclaimed author, whose books have won many prestigious awards (“Markus Zusak Biography”) for their tremendous literary value. The Book Thief is based upon years of extensive research, personal information, and stories from his parents’ lives. Zusak worked on the book with great intensity over a period of three years, saying, “I wrote, and when I was hitting a wall, I researched. Then I’d write some more” (“The Book Thief 10 Years Later”). His focus on being a full-time writer is part of the reason he is a credible author. His writing career started as a teenager, and he later pursued a degree in teaching as well as working briefly as a house painter, janitor, and high school english teacher (“Markus Zusak Biography”), …show more content…
In order to understand the book, it is required that the audience has a knowledge of the World War II time period during which Germany was under the control of the Nazi Party. During this time, Adolf Hitler took over Germany, and brought a rise to a dangerously extreme nationalism. This is important for readers to understand, because Hitler’s iron-fisted control plays a major role in the book. It is important to know that the Nazis got rid of anyone they suspected to be anti-German by putting them in concentration camps or getting rid of them in other ways, because the disposal of anyone thought to be anti-German was a major part of the conflict in the novel. This basis for conflict is essential to understand in order to be able to interpret the plot of the book. The knowledge of World War II in general is significant to visualize the setting, but knowing about the German viewpoint is of even greater importance to comprehend the setting and perspective on things that are presented in the story, like the Hitler Youth and Mein Kampf. The background information most significant to the enjoyment and understanding of The Book Thief is awareness of the history during the World War II time period in Nazi Germany. The understanding of this background information is a strong foundation necessary for the audience to know what is happening in the …show more content…
The Book Thief begins from the interesting perspective of Death, who ironically shares his viewpoint on life, specifically the life of the book thief, a girl named Liesel Meminger. Death flashes back to Nazi Germany in World War II, and introduces himself and his point of view to the readers. He explains that each time he sees the book thief-beside her dead brother, beside a dead pilot, or inside a dying city-it is part of a story that is “an immense leap of an attempt-to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it” (Zusak 15). Liesel, the protagonist of the story, is traveling with her mother and brother to Molching, Germany, to be taken in by foster parents. However, her brother is taken by death, and her mother leaves her in the hands of kind Hans Hubermann and his loud, waddling wife Rosa, with only a book she stole from her brother’s burial. Liesel has to adjust to her new life, but she has trouble with nightmares and getting along with other children. However, Hans, her new foster father, develops a bond with her and teaches her to read. Liesel meets a boy named Rudy Steiner, and they become best friends that exchange playful insults and play soccer together. Liesel is learning to adjust to her new life of assisting her foster mother with laundry work, going to school and being a typical German girl in Nazi Germany, but she is unprepared for the foreshadowed conflict that is yet to