Symbols In The Book Thief

“Here he stops at nothing, and in his vileness, he becomes so gigantic that no one need be surprised if among our people the personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of a Jew.”Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, page 293. Throughout The Book Thief, Mein Kampf is used time and time again. From Max’s escape to the pages he uses to write. The most powerful words in this book isn’t The Word Shaker, or the words Liesel purloined from Isla Hermann’s library, or what she read in the basement during air raids- but instead Mein Kampf. Hitler’s propaganda is the catalyst for the book. His words brought not only pain and suffering to Liesel, but also infrangible bonds with friends and family and her passion for reading. …show more content…
Symbolism around the book starts forming when Death hints that it is the start of an idea. In Enter the Struggler, Death introduces us to a Jewish man in hiding named Max. He is handed a book along with items needed to escape. Later on in The Struggler, Continued, the book is unveiled to be Mein Kampf. “Mein Kampf. Of all the things to save him.” “Sweeping away the anger, he smiled at her. It’s the best book ever… It saved my life.” Through the words Hitler wrote, he birthed hatred and spite from Germany. An entire nation turned its back on its own people. Irony is created from Max’s dependence on Mein Kampf, even though it is the root of his