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Elizabeth Norvey
Mrs. Rutan
A.P Literature and Composition
21 June 2016
The Musings of Death:
Death, our non-participatory narrator, has led us to 1939 Germany, to Liesel Meminger,
a girl of not yet 10 years. As she embarks on a beautifully tragic and enlightening adventure,
she is ripped from her family, her mother and recently deceased brother, and placed with a
foster family in Molching, a small German village. Her book thievery began only hours earlier, in
a nameless town near a nameless train station,when a small black book fell from a young
gravediggers pocket, thus beginning an illustrious career. (29) From there, she finds herself in
the home of Hans and Rosa Hubermann, her new foster parents. The young girl blossoms
under the care of Hans Hubermann, who takes it upon himself to teach Liesel to read, a skill she
never possessed before. That, combined with her friendship with her neighbor, Rudy Steiner,
helps her along with healing after the traumatic events leading up to her delivery to the
Hubermanns. Then, Max Vandenburg arrives. His arrival complicates everyones lives, but also
adds something to their lives that they didnt know was missing.
Markus Zusak takes an original perspective, narrating from the point of view of Death
recounting the tale of a young girl who eluded him many times over the course of World War II.
When first seeing the prologue, you can imagine it took a while to get used to the new style of
writing used. That being said, it was an ingenious take on an overdone story-- the heroine
forced to survive the cruel conditions brought on by World War II. Strangely enough, the respect
for the young girl shown through the writing eliminates the coldness that you would think would
be present in a story narrated by Death.

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As a reader, I can definitively say that even the most mundane of tasks carried out by
young Liesel captivates through eloquent writing and the creation of such an eccentric
character. I call Liesel eccentric because she breaks out of the expectations set on her as a
young German girl in the Hitler Youth, and, using her own methods, paves her own path to
learning, even in a time when the act of learning in itself has become a perilous task. This
eccentricity is only more apparent in her handling of the situation with Max. Shes different from
the others in her peer group--and the adults around her, for that matter--in the sense that shes
more mature and place more value on human life than they do. This also relates to the set of
punishments that are listed by Hans Hubermann if she was to tell anyone about Max, proving
even more that she has a different mindset than those around her: For starters, he said, I will
take each and every one of your books and I will burn them, Theyll take you away from
me.(203) Zusak brilliantly represents this bright, shining child in the darkness of the time
period.
While I have been singing the praises of this piece, I must also mention a flaw in the
writing, though some may consider this as a strengthening factor: terribly obvious
foreshadowing. The narration basically tells us whats going to happen. Halfway through the
story,I know that Rudy and the Hubermanns are going to die: *** A SMALL ANNOUNCEMENT
ABOUT RUDY STEINER*** He didnt deserve to die the way he did (241). Thankfully, this does
not spoil the story, only dampens it slightly.
Overall, I find the story and characters to be engaging, realistic, and fairly inspiring. The
narration is simply a work of genius, and the use of colors is gorgeous. This all translates into a
great novel. I cannot say enough about the wonderfully developed characters; they make the
story worth reading. The descriptions, however, are what makes it beautiful: Somewhere in all
the snow, she could see her broken heart, in two pieces. Each half was glowing, and beating

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under all that white. (24), The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places, it was
burned. There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked across the redness. (12), A mountain
range of rubble was written, designed, erected around her. She was clutching at a book (13).
Its not everyday that one comes across such an intricately woven tale about such a young girl.
Not only amazing, but unique,also, Mark Zusaks B
ook Thief is tragically consuming and
simultaneously beautiful.

Works Cited
Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.

Mastery

show thoughtful commentary

and analysis of the novel.

Incomplete

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the novel, but present a summary.

include incorrect information

about the novel.

do too much plot summary, and

not enough reflection or analysis.

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use several pieces of direct,

clearly integrated, and cited evidence

do not use direct, well integrated,

or cited evidence from the novel.

from the novel.

show organization and structure

My

paragraphs/paper are poorly

in my paragraphs and overall paper.

structured.

show solid grammar and

have poor grammar and

mechanics.

mechanics.

complete the required number of

do not write the required number

pages

of pages; my paper is too short

use 11 point font,

do not use the correct paper

double-spaced, and typed.

formatting.

include a thoughtful title.

fail to include a title.

use MLA format.

fail to use MLA format.

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