US History II Honors Summer Assignment (Group B, Essay 1)
In Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, stories within the story often act as a powerful plot device. They serve to reveal underlying themes within the novel, to make character’s feelings known, or to break down what is happening around the characters into a more metaphorical form. The stories convey feelings, such as in Max vandenburg’s stories that he illustrated for Liesel, “The Standover Man” and “The Word Shaker”. The Max’s stories also reflect both the political and historical scene of Germany at the time (and some in some cases, give a broad message that is able to be applied anywhere). In Max Vandenburg’s first story, “The Standover Man”, he briefly chronicles his life, explaining how every day, someone was standing over him. The people standing over him watch him every day, and they essentially control his fate. When he was young, it was his father who stood over him and protected him from the harsh world outside. During his adolescence, it was the other boys in his community, who had bested him in fights. During his early adulthood, it was his best friend, Walter Kugler, who gave him a place to hide, as well as food and other necessary supplies (Walter was also one of the boys who stood over Max …show more content…
Max Vandenburg writes several stories for Liesel for Liesel over the course of the novel. The first is “The Standover Man”, where he chronicles his life and how he has always had someone watching over him, controlling his fate. The second story is called “The Word Shaker”, where Max talks about Hitler’s rise to fame in sort of fairytale context, with one girl bravely refusing to bow to the Fuhrer’s regime. Stories within stories often contain valuable insight into underlying themes of the novel, if one studies them carefully
In Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, stories within the story often act as a powerful plot device. They serve to reveal underlying themes within the novel, to make character’s feelings known, or to break down what is happening around the characters into a more metaphorical form. The stories convey feelings, such as in Max vandenburg’s stories that he illustrated for Liesel, “The Standover Man” and “The Word Shaker”. The Max’s stories also reflect both the political and historical scene of Germany at the time (and some in some cases, give a broad message that is able to be applied anywhere). In Max Vandenburg’s first story, “The Standover Man”, he briefly chronicles his life, explaining how every day, someone was standing over him. The people standing over him watch him every day, and they essentially control his fate. When he was young, it was his father who stood over him and protected him from the harsh world outside. During his adolescence, it was the other boys in his community, who had bested him in fights. During his early adulthood, it was his best friend, Walter Kugler, who gave him a place to hide, as well as food and other necessary supplies (Walter was also one of the boys who stood over Max …show more content…
Max Vandenburg writes several stories for Liesel for Liesel over the course of the novel. The first is “The Standover Man”, where he chronicles his life and how he has always had someone watching over him, controlling his fate. The second story is called “The Word Shaker”, where Max talks about Hitler’s rise to fame in sort of fairytale context, with one girl bravely refusing to bow to the Fuhrer’s regime. Stories within stories often contain valuable insight into underlying themes of the novel, if one studies them carefully