The Book Thief Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Opening Paragraph:

By showing death has a human-like nature, Mark Zusak, the author of The Book Thief, exemplifies that death does, in fact, have a soul death feels for the people that he has to take to the afterlife. With World War II occurring in Europe, death tells the story of a life of a particular young girl who piques his interests in the midst of a chaotic time in history. Zusak shows author's style by using personification, symbolism, and foreshadowing of death in The Book Thief.

By using personification, Zusak shows that death has human-like components and characteristics, he makes this a point when he writes “Even death has a heart” (Zusak 242). Death personified brings a new element to the story, it gives a new point of view on what happens after you pass on. Death, in The Book Thief, is given a pessimistic and honest tone and he is frequently brutally honest, as he often apologizes for

He frequently uses foreshadowing throughout The Book Thief and by using it, he creates false hope and suspense. Zusak makes the his audience want to keep reading to see if his inclinations about future events are true. Most of the foreshadowing in The Book Thief points to one significant event, the deaths of the important people in Liesel's life, one of the best examples of his use of false hope in his foreshadowing is this: “Preemptively, you conclude, as I would, that Rudy died that very same day of hypothermia. He did not.” (Zusak 242). Zusak goes on to say what actually happens to Rudy later on, “...i’m certain he would have liked to see the frightening rubble and the swelling of the sky on the night he passed away… He’d have been glad to witness her kissing his dusty, bomb-hit lips.” (Zusak 242). The use of foreshadowing prevents any discrepancies with the outcome of the novel. Zusak intentionally tells the outcome so the style of his writing is exemplified and shown as straight forward, no sugar