The Book Thief's Unique Narrator
September 6, 2019
This week I began reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and so far I really love it. The story tells of a young girl by the name of Liesel living in Nazi Germany. After her younger brother dies and her mother decides it is best to leave her, she finds herself in the foster care system and carted off to the home of Hans and Rosa Hubermann. As the story progresses Liesel learns to deal with her rude and screaming new foster mom (whom she must call mama), but developed a very fatherly love towards her new "papa", Hans. Readers get to experience the journey that Liesel takes in a small town in Germany while the second World War begins around her, along with the era of Hitler. The book revolves around Liesel's life and what she discovers about her past, truth about Nazi Germany and much more. Liesel also is fond of stealing books during situations in which she is feeling desperate, like the graveyard of her brother's funeral and from a burning fire.
One of the many interesting aspects of this story is that it is told from the point of view of Death. Choosing Death to be the narrator of such a compelling story helps accentuate the dramatic parts of the story even more. Specifically when someone dies, specifically a character important to the story, Death talks about going to collect their should and bringing it with him to the sky. When Liesel's brother dies Death tells readers how he watched the train ride in which the event took place. As Liesel and her mother fall asleep on the crowded train, Death watches as the boy began to glow white. This was the signal to Death that the boy had died, although it isn't really explained why the boy passed away. Every time someone of many someones die, a different color appears to Death, which almost tells him of the situation. For example mass murders or a large number of people dying at once will often appear in a red glow. I think that the book did a really good job sharing many details on Death, his job and his character, although there is still an air of mystery around Death. Death only explains his side of the story when someone has died, and he rarely explains his own feelings or emotions.
Other times in the story, Death will choose to share little bits of information with the readers that is in bolder and larger font, which draws the readers attention to the writing more. Whether it be background information about a character or a historical fact about Nazi Germany, these moments help the reader take a pause from the story and be more conscious of the effect of the story. As an example, Death will share background information on how a character relates to the story if they are just being introduced. The son of Han's old best friend was introduced in a slightly sudden scene, but Death "jumped back into the story" and explained how the character was important to the storyline. Death also shares little snippets of what is going to happen later on in the story, such as "this will be the last time Liesel saw so and so", or "the next time I saw blah blah it was time for me to pay them a visit". I really found these pieces of information added to the style of the book, giving the reader background information on both past and future events is an interesting technique. It allows the reader to get excited for what is to come next in the story.
Liesel's story is centered around her love for books and learning. Hans Hubermann, her papa, encourages her passion and reads to her in the middle of the night as a form of secret reading lessons. I thought that this particular part of the book was very wholesome and added a lot of empathy and emotion to the characters. As the title shows, she steals a few books throughout the story, which was a lot bigger deal in Nazi Germany then it is now to have books that we found on the ground or in a fire. One of my favorite scenes is when she discovers that the Mayor's wife has a whole library full of books. Liesel is in charge of collecting the laundry of people around the town and bringing it back to her Mama Rosa. She then spends the next months rushing through her laundry services to be able to have extra time at the Mayor's wife's house where she spends her time combing through book after book. One of the reasons that her love of reading is so powerful in this story is because it is not entirely legal in Nazi Germany. Although specific laws are not always explained, the tone of the book implies that Liesel reading books and being in possession of books is a dangerous thing.
I am thoroughly enjoying what I have read of The Book Thief so far and I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction, thriller, adventure, and other topics similar to those. I would also encourage people to not be discouraged if they find it boring after the first couple of pages - it gets much better don't worry! I first picked this book up several years ago and found myself unwilling to continue reading, but now I find I really appreciate the style of writing and the complexity of the storyline.
- Amalia Bollero
I enjoyed reading your blog, and the book seems very interesting. I found in particular the way you described the narrator as being Death as very intriguing and unusual. I own the book, and tried to read it a while ago as well, but this has encouraged me to start reading it again. One suggestion I have is to use a few more direct quotations as this could really exemplify the points that you are making. Great post!
ReplyDeleteGood job on this blog. I liked how you talked about death being the narrator of the story and it's effect on the book. Death being the narrator sounds like an interesting and unique way of telling the story. I also like how you talked about the setting and it's effect on the plot instead of the book just being a regular old book story. I think you did a great job making the book sound interesting and I might check it out some time.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect I found interesting in the book that you wrote about was the main narrator being 'Death'. I have never read a book that followed the same style as Book Thief and it sounds interesting to read. I also appreciate the relationship you made with this book and other historical events. Maybe you could expand on that idea and provide a few more examples?
ReplyDeleteThe way you described the book was quite astounding! I liked how you explained that the book that is also somewhat about reading is interesting. Along with the narrator being death, you also had an in-depth take on the meaning of everything as well as the impact of parts of the book on other parts.
ReplyDeleteI read this book in 6th grade and definitely agree that it was captivating and told quite realistically from an otherwise fictitious point of view. You did a good job explaining the color hues of the dead and other aspects from the book, such as Liesel's avid reading personality. I really enjoyed reading your post!
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