Foreshadowing In The Book Thief

The Book Thief Author’s Craft

“Even death has a heart” (Zusak, 242). In The Book Thief, during the late 1930’s in Munich, Germany lies a family struggling to get by. In the heart of WWII and the Holocaust, protagonist Liesel Meminger in the mourning of the death of her brother, unknown location of her father, and the disappearance of her mother, is moved to a foster home where all her adventures just begin. Hans and Rosa Hubermann, Liesel’s loving foster parents, help her through the maze of growing up, along with her best friend Rudy Steiner. Together all of them face Germany’s strict laws from the pressure of having to be a part of the Nazi Party, and the attendance of Hitler Youth for children. An incident from the past regarding Hans soon

Throughout this well crafted book lies woven in layers of meaning within text, many cases of foreshadowing, a good amount of symbolism, and who would have guessed it, Death as the narrator who knows and tells all. In The Book Thief, the author’s craft is the most important aspect of the way the story is told.

To begin, one of the techniques the author uses to tell the story is foreshadowing. Right in the prologue the author describes multiple aspects that foreshadow the rest of the book. “It’s just a small story really, about, among other things: A girl, Some words, An accordionist, Some fanatical Germans, A Jewish fist fighter, And quite a lot of thievery. I saw the book thief three times” (Zusak, 5). The author does this to intrigue the reader into continuing to read the story. The

Time and time again the author uses Death to add certain elements that impact the mood, transitions, and the context of the story. "Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It's the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me” (Zusak, 243). Not only this, but in most cases Death has tendencies of dark humor that provide a different viewpoint to the story. Death has a vital role in the author’s craft because he not only tells the story, but gives readers a different insight to himself, themes within the story, humans, the characters, and the Holocaust. He is also portrayed differently than people’s main generalizations about him. “Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it was a newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listened to their last, gasping cries. Their vanishing words. I watched their love visions and freed them from their fear” (Zusak, 350). Some may not agree with this and say that Death as a part of the author’s craft isn’t important to how the story is written, but this is wrong. Death adds so many unique elements to the story than just the beginning, plot, climax, and resolution. By adding Death to the story you have a different view than a character retelling it. Here, because Death is omniscient readers know what’s going to happen