Examples Of Situational Irony In The Book Thief

Situational irony is a noun meaning “an outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected, the difference between what is expected to happen and what actually does” (Dictionary.com). Many events that contain situational irony are present in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This book is a story narrated by Death about a girl named Liesel and her experiences during World War II. She is givin up by her mother to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann and she eventually has a wonderful life in her new home. She loves to spend time with her best friend Rudy Steiner and she even becomes friends with the Jewish man hiding in her basement, Max. The Book Thief is a complicated story showing how some events can be unexpected, but can end up being good in the end. To show this, Markus Zusak uses situational irony first when a Jewish man shows up at the Hubermann’s door, again when Death is actually caring and kind, and finally when a basement that was not supposed to be safe actually saved Liesel 's life.

Situational irony is shown in The Book Thief when Max, a Jewish man, shows up at the Hubermann’s door. Max went to the Hubermann’s house because Hans, Liesel 's foster father, offered to hide him from the Nazis. When Liesel first saw Max, Hans told her to go back to bed, so she did. As she was lying in bed, she was listening to her family talk to the strange man in her kitchen and was wondering who he was. When Rosa, Liesel’s foster mother, went down and saw Max she burst