Beauty Can Co-Exist With Brutality In The Book Thief

In the novel, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, the author develops the theme with character development. The main character, Liesel Meminger, moves in with her new foster parents in Molching Germany. Liesel’s foster parents, Rose and Hans Hubermann, are complete opposites. Rose has a bit of a bad temper and can be demanding at times, while Hans is very admirable and sympathetic, but both of them still love Liesel. The narrator of the novel, Death, says; ¨She possessed the unique ability to aggravate almost anyone she ever met. But she did love Liesel Meminger. Her way of showing it just happened to be strange. It involved bashing her with wooden spoons and words at various intervals¨ (Zusak 35). Death is showing how Rose can be evil and cruel at times, but because of Liesel, and her kindness, she gets a little better

Compassion is beautiful since the caring nature which human can bring comfort for those who are sad and conflicted. When Liesel is sitting on the bathroom floor with Hans and she sees the compassion flowing through Hans Hubermann, in the quote “They were made of kindness and silver. Like soft silver melting. Liesel upon seeing those eyes understood the Hans Hubermann was worth a lot”.

Works of literature often provide readers with important insight on compelling thematic topics, such as perseverance, friendship and power. This is evident in the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Taking place in the midst of world war two, the book is filled with circumstances where the characters face real world conflicts and problems. The novel starts off with Liesel Meminger being taken to a foster home in the small town of Molching, German; where along the way her little brother has died due to health complications. She begins to bond with her foster father, Hans Hubermann, over the book she has brought with her. Liesel begins to learn more about the Fuhrer or more commonly known as Adolf Hitler, and his cruel and sadistic views towards imperfect humans, the jews.

The novel, “The Book Thief”, written by Markus Zusak shows the nature of human beings and their actions during what was arguably the most catastrophic time in human history, the reign of Nazi Germany. He demonstrates the impact that words have had on the the nation, the world, and a young girl named Liesel Meminger. However, to portray this, he utilizes a narrator which can explain events in a way no other living being can- ‘Death’. Throughout the novel, Death describes the life-changing events that Liesel is forced to undergo, but he highlights how she is able to power through them and achieve an outcome so great. Most of all, he explains how is eventually able to understand the true meaning of words, and how they have the capacity to be so simple, yet unimaginably powerful. After analyzing Liesel’s account of the tragedies she has gone through, he concludes his thoughts by declaring that, “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst, I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both”(Zusak 491). This paradox of being ugly and beautiful at the same time can best be associated with young Liesel Meminger and her struggle

Max and Liesel are very similar. They both are homeless, and have lost important people in their lives. While Max and Liesel are different to the outside eye they have similar personalities and interests. They both suffer from nightmares, but are quite fond of books, and are brought into the Huberman’s household.

Liesel’s life represents beauty in the wake of brutality. Beauty in the wake of brutality means something that is good in the middle of evil. For example, the Sodom and Gomorrah story in the Bible (Genesis 19). The two cities are evil and God is going to destroy them but there is one family that is good and he saves them. The family represents beauty in the wake of brutality. In the Book Thief, Liesel’s life represents beauty in the wake of brutality in her relationship with Ilsa Hermann, in her relationship with Rudy, and in the Hubermann’s house.

Liesel had a very tough childhood with her mother abandoning her and her brother dying, plus everybody else she lost. Even though she suffered many terrible events during her childhood, she still prevailed through it by reading books and using her words. Her obsession with stealing books and living in the Hubermann household represented the beauty in her life in the wake of the brutality caused by the Nazi party. She spent quality time learning how to read with Hans, and was amazed how kind and patient Hans was. Liesel bonding with Mas was also a part of the beauty in her life, in spite of the brutality and the despair happening in her life. She read books with Max and spent a lot of time with each other, even writing books together. Their friendship adds to the beauty that Liesel’s life represented, even though Max was a Jew, she still befriended him. Markus Zusak’s poetic writing enhances Liesel’s story by adding imagery and many bold headlines to write important statements. Without these elements, the story would have been overwhelmingly boring and depressing. The bold headline is used as emphasis, such as “I am haunted by humans” to add more meaning to the quote. (Zusak

No single person is free from the toil of this world, or the hardships associated with it. This comes as brutality towards the ill-fated. These people cope with brutality in order to function. To cope with brutality, many find beauty to be their escape from pain by finding distractions from this brutality. On Himmel Street, the characters of The Book Thief share the hardships of their past and current situation, along with the necessity to cope with it. In the novel The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak exemplifies beauty appearing within the wake of brutality, as well as the resilience of spirit in times of hardship with Max, Liesel, and Death

Death states that he sees the ugliness and beauty in people which can refer to many different characters throughout the movie The Book Thief. Many characters change with the events that are going on in Germany, especially their levels of ugliness and beauty.There are many different characters in which we see the ugliness and beauty which goes to high extents.

Markus Zusak has assembled ‘The Book Thief’ using a variety of narrative conventions. These include a unique narrative viewpoint, plot structure and use of imagery, all of which provide meaning to the reader.

The Book Thief depicts the struggle of young German girl, Liesel Meminger, living in Germany during the time of Hitler’s reign. Liesel struggles to survive in a war-torn society filled with hatred and injustice. Her life is changed forever when she begins her love affair with books. With the help of her accordion-playing

Life is not always beautiful, that is a fact. It is a fact that every human being has come to realize. Another fact that we all know but cease to accept is that life is brutal, that is another fact, except that, it is a fact no one wanted to accept until that one turning point in a person’s journey in which they realize that there is not always a way out. In “The Book Thief”, the protagonist, Liesel Meminger comes to realize that in life, there is beauty and brutality, sometimes both combined together with a fine line between them. The author, Zusak, uses three out of the five senses-vision, hearing and the ability to feel, both physically and emotionally as imagery to communicate the ideas of beauty and brutality to the reader and enforce

named Liesel Meminger narrated through the words of Death. The thievery character of this girl

In the beginning of the story, the middle-aged Rosa, the young Stella, and the infant Magda are walking as a family through the cold and harshness of winter. They are walking because they are captured jews toward a concentration camp. The author indirectly hints this to the reader by writing, “hair nearly as yellow as the Star sewn into Rosa’s coat. You could think she was one of their babies” (516). The trio are being abused through neglect, they are walking skeletons, made ravenous by the Germans. Rosa, being the selfless mother that she is, gives Magda all of her food and a shawl for warmth, protection, and nourishment. Magda is being concealed from their captors, for if she were to be found, she

In such a diverse world where different races come together and interact, the early 1960s reveal society’s surprised reaction to these relationships. Interracial relationships are strongly frowned upon during this time, almost as if they are illegal. Fortunately, over time, people begin to accept those with different backgrounds and can easily communicate with each other. Hardships are still present today, but society in moving in a better direction. Also, society is turning more towards religion as guidance and strength to move along in life. Sue Kidd Monk prove these views and incorporates her own perspective of society. In her novel, The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd reveals the complexity and