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The Book Thief Theme Essay

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The author of ‘The book thief’, Markus Zusak and the novel ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel explore the theme of death. They explore the theme of death in different ways but explore it at the same time in history with Nazi Germany. The novel ‘Night’ is looking from a Jews perspective of a survivor of the holocaust. In ‘The book thief’ the narrator is Death and he follows Liesel and her German family. Both explore the theme of death, with the death of he bother being used as a turning point in ‘the book thief’ for Liesel. Death in ‘Night’ is explored where it became normal to see dead bodies but all it shows the limit people go to avoid death. Death becomes a reality and a normal occurrence in Night with thousands of dying daily in Auschwitz.

The theme of death is first introduced in the beginning of ‘The book thief’ as Death narrates the story. The first turning point for Liesel, the German girl that Death follows, starts with her brother dying where she steals a book. This first book will be the start of many that she steals.

“With one eye open, one still in a dream, the book thief-also known as Liesel Meminger-could see without question that her younger brother, Werner, was …show more content…
“It was raining on Himmel Street when the world ended for Liesel Meminger.”(497) This was foreshadowing to the reader that Liesel life would never be how it was. Death then explains everyone died on Himmel Street, “Rudy Steiner slept. Mama and papa slept. Frau Holtzapfel, Frau Diller. Tommy Müller. All sleeping. All dying.”(498) It then is explained that Liesel is the only survivor. This scene explores the theme of death with the death of her whole street and how even though the narrator Death was happy that the book thief survives the bombing its also his job to collect the souls, making the reader understand of the death of these characters did just affect Liesel but it also affects the immortal

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