Markus Zusak

Mandy Hale once said, “You have a destiny and a purpose that no one else on this earth can fulfill . . . And you have traveled a unique journey that has equipped you along the way with the tools you need to carry it out” In I Am the Messenger, Markus Zusak reveals to me how everyone is put on this world with a purpose, whether they know it or not, everyone has a reason for being here. This is shown multiple times throughout the novel in different ways, including when Ed would help the people…

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak has a way with his words as his words comes to life. The setting of this book is Nazi Germany when Hitler controlled the country and had power over all of the Jews and the Nazis. The protagonist in Markus’s book is a character named Liesel, a young girl whose brother had died on the way to the Hubermanns and that later found out her mother was a communist. Liesel was able to steal a book named The Grave Digger's Handbook during her brother’s funeral. Liesel…

The Unexpected Visitor Many novels were written about World War II, specifically featuring families that helped hide Jewish people. One book that fits into this category is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This book features a story about a German family with a young girl housing a long lost Jewish friend, Max Vandenburg. Obviously, during this time, the stakes were very high for the family, as housing a Jew was punishable by death. Despite these risks, Max Vandenburg’s presence brought the…

The Beauty and Brutality of Mankind Constant controversies on humans suggest that humanity is responsible for great compassion and great evil. In the novel The Book Thief written by Markus Zusak, the exploration of human nature reveals that one is capable of both beauty and brutality based on different experiences. Firstly, the setting and conflicts shown in the story help develop the concept of humanity. To add on, symbols and motifs are used as a powerful tool to portray the opinions and…

Extended Study – Connected Texts Compare the ways in which the creators of your chosen texts explored self-growth. In Markus Zusak’s novel When Dogs Cry and in Tom Hooper’s film Les Misérables, stylistic features are used to explore the theme self-growth. Both texts show the idea of self-growth in many different forms. Self-growth with help from others, self-growth due to a difficult situation and self-growth because of a change in beliefs has been explored in Zusak’s When Dogs Cry and…

a German girl named Liesel, who is given up by her mother to live with a German couple, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. Throughout the book, Liesel and Hans developed an exquisite relationship that bloomed right from the start. The writer of the book, Markus Zusak did a wonderful job with adding specific details to the story, to create the relationship between the two in such a way that the reader could not only imagine how deep the relationship was, but also how heartfelt and meaningful it was to…

In The Book Thief composed by Markus Zusak, death the storyteller considers telling Liesel of the magnificence and fierceness of humankind. There's constantly great wherever there's detestable. Liesel, who has just confronted the fierceness in life never comprehended the excellence of it. At a youthful age Liesel saw the unfortunate passing of her sibling, as her mom was giving both of them up for appropriation. She was then taken into the hand of outsiders, realizing that her mom could never…

Nazi Germany and having a young girl as the protagonist, The Book Thief is interesting, to say the least. What makes this novel fascinating, however, is the fact that the narrator is Death. I especially enjoyed the personality that the author, Markus Zusak, gives Death, making him seem somewhat human. It seems that Death does not realize that humans cannot see him, which makes him more interested in people, especially Liesel. Death is what captures initial interest in the book because it is…

Imagine leaving everything and everyone behind then reintroducing yourself into a brand new life. This is what happens in the novel, The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak.This novel is very meaningful and truly touched me. The Book Thief portrays the story of a girl named Liesel. But here is the kicker, it is narrated by Death himself. The interesting perspective makes for a very different kind of way to express the story. I absolutely loved the many themes presented in The Book Thief. I still…

pen is mightier than the sword” or “knowledge is power” are often told to a younger generation to emphasize the true power that books (and the words within) can have. Markus Zusak takes this concept and integrates it extremely well in his award-winning novel The Book Thief. Through the actions of the characters in The Book Thief, Zusak illustrates that besides being simply literature, books can form important bonds, can save lives, and can represent power. Often times, similar choices in…