Markus Zusak

Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief, chooses Death to narrate this touching story that follows the lives of a few German residents as they navigate through World War 2. During the conflict Death inevitably collects a significant number of souls; on the other hand, many continued living their lives as normally as they could under the circumstances. This leads us to believe, when wars erupt they have the power to devalue the self esteem of the people and nations involved; however, unlikely…

Speech is an essential aspect of human society and culture. Words can motivate action or produce emotions in human beings. The concept of the power of words is explored and uncovered through the life story of Liesel Meminger. In Markus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief, the protagonist comes to know the importance of words and the way language impacts herself and others. However, these ideas are not clarified until the pivotal moment when Liesel calms a room full of terrified people by simply reading…

Being able to have an enjoyable time is one of the most important aspects to having good life. In the work of historical fiction “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak, there is a character named Liesel who struggles to become properly educated in Nazi Germany. Liesel struggles to fight against the power of Nazism. Her, and some of her friends gather knowledge about the world that they live in, and the worlds they don't live in. She approaches the summit of her mountain of knowledge when she puts all…

aspect of life. People try to avoid it, but, change is inevitable. Some people look forward to change, while others like to stay the same, however, change could be carried out in many diverse ways, and this is shown through The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The Book Thief is a story narrated by Death; it takes place in Munich, Germany during World War 2. The book consists of a German girl named Liesel Meminger who is left alone by her mother, and is put with foster parents; she comes across…

In a world of over 7 billion people, there tends to only be two characteristics one can have: kindness or cruelty. Yet the power of both kindness and cruelty are underestimated. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, the kindness and cruelty of humans is displayed through people like Liesel Meminger, Adolf Hitler, and Max Vandenburg. The Book Thief’s name herself doesn’t sound appealing, but Liesel truly had a heart of gold. During WWII, going to a bomb shelter was a weekly event. In this…

The journey from being doubtful of yourself to being confident is a physical and mental transition. In the book I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak, the main character Ed struggles with self confidence because of the situation he is in. Ed is a nineteen-year-old man living as a taxi driver, who does not have many friends. One day Ed gets a playing card in the mail with three addresses on it. When Ed goes to those houses, his life dramatically changes for the better. Ed learns and gains self…

Finding love in sad times is not impossible; it is just hard to believe it is there. Yanek Gruener very much feels that way during World War 2 in “Prisoner B-3087” by Alan Gratz. While suffering from overwork and harassment, Yanek slowly begins to find his belief for love in small pieces. As he finds the pieces of love one at a time, they add up together to show Yanek that he can find love in the hardest time of his life. He realizes that in the darkest and saddest time of his life, he can find…

A thief is defined as “a person who steals, especially secretly or without open force”. This relates to the main character the narrator who is stealing throughout the story without his friend’s knowing. The author of “The Thief”, Junichiro Tanizaki, proves the theme of how people should not trust one another so easily based on his main characters. Nakamura, the thief's friend plays a great role in the theme of “The Thief”. Nakamura does not suspect the narrator of being the thief like Hirata…

Using Rudy as an example; he met Liesel while playing soccer with other kids from the neighborhood but immediately they became close friends that grew a strong bond. “A boy jumped in, caught up to it, and held it in his right hand. He grinned” ( Zusak 241). This only shows that Rudy was willing to do almost anything for Liesel, he had jumped into freezing cold water to save a book, although he did want a kiss in return that never came. Eventually Liesel understood the what kind of a friend Rudy…

The Messenger (2002) is a young adult novel by Australian author Mark Zusak. The novel follows the life of nineteen year old Ed Kennedy, who describes himself as “cab driving prodigy, pathetic card player and useless at sex” . Ed seems like the type of person who doesn’t have much going on for him in life, that is until becomes an unlikely town hero when he stops a bank robbery . Ed then starts receiving cryptic messages in the mail, along missions to complete and addresses. In The Messenger Ed…