Analysis Of The Book Thief

The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, brings the audience back to Nazi Germany in the early 20th century, during the time of the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the reason for the deaths of around six million Jews and countless other victims. “Young children were particularly targeted by the Nazis to be murdered during the Holocaust” (“91”). Throughout the novel, Markus Zusak uses different elements of fact and fiction. Zusak uses historical facts to set a background for his novel and fiction to give a different view of the story. Zusak is the child of immigrant German and Austrian parents. His parents had a great influence as to why he wrote his best-selling novel, The Book Thief. “Zusak chose the subject matter in part to share the stories his parents told him about growing up in Austria and Germany during the war” (“Markus”). Zusak’s parents have had experience with the Nazis in their life, so Zusak had a primary source to go to for facts. Zusak’s novel is told from the perspective of a narrator called Death. Since Death is obviously not a real person, The Book Thief is a fictional piece of literature. Although Death is a fictional narrator, he does describe factual events that happened during the time of the Holocaust and World War II. Liesel, who is another fictional character, is the main character of the novel and she learns about historical events that occurred during the time period. Book burnings were a real event that took place during the Holocaust