The Book Thief Themes and Symbolisim

The Colors

Death is a lonely dude. He spends all his time escorting dead people away from their bodies. So it's no wonder that he sees beauty wherever he can—especially in the colors of the natural world. Death's fascination with the colors of the sky functions as imagery. It helps cast the mood of the story, and creates much of the atmosphere: "The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places it was burned. There were black crumbs and pepper, streaked across the redness."By focusing on the sky-colors at the times of human deaths, Death suggests that there is a connection between a person's death and the natural world.The idea that each person dies with their own color of sky presents a vision of a universe which cares about humans, and isn't indifferent to them. For Death, the colors are also edible, and he sucks on them for distraction while he's on the job.

The Accordion

The accordion in The Book Thief produces beautiful melodies... and more. This accordion starts off as a symbol of hope and comfort. When Liesel begins reading to the residents of Himmel Street during the air raids, she feels like she's giving them what Hans gives her when he plays the accordion—distraction, comfort, and hope. For Hans, the accordion is a symbol of the man who gave it to him, the man who saved his life. That man is Erik Vandenburg, Max's father. For Max, the accordion symbolizes the possibility that he'll survive the Holocaust. It's the link between him and Hans Hubermann, the man willing to risk his life to help him. In fact, the first thing he says to Hans is:"Do you still play the accordion?" When Hans leaves for Essen, he leaves the accordion behind. For Rosa in particular it becomes a symbol of Hans himself. When Liesel sees her wearing it ever night, but never daring a note, she realizes how much Hans means to her foster mother.

Symbolism

Love

The Book Thief focuses on characters who are learning to love in the face of great hatred. There is also romantic love in the novel. Of course, it's an innocent childlike romance that tragedy cuts short. The novel is set in a Nazi Germany, where giving another person something as small as a crust of stale bread or even a smile could be seen as act of immense kindness. These acts almost always involve penalty. To love, in such a harsh world, is both a necessity and a triumph for the characters.

Themes

Literature and Writing

The Book Thief Themes and Symbolism

The title suggests that literature and writing will be an important theme of this novel. The Book Thief is framed by various other books, not the least of which is protagonist Liesel's memoir, The Book Thief. The novel also shows the destruction of literature and writing, as dramatized by the burning of Jewish creative and intellectual products in a book burning for Adolph Hitler's birthday. Max Vandenburg, a Jew hiding from the Nazis, gets a small revenge for this by painting over the pages of Hitler's own book, Mein Kampf, and writing stories for Liesel over top of them. Overall, the novel seems to demonstrate the power that words of friendship have to overshadow words of hatred.

By: Austin Carlin

Courage

The characters in The Book Thief exhibit great courage in the face of great adversity. It takes courage for the Hubermanns to take in Max Vandenburg, a young Jewish man. It takes extreme courage for Max to make the trip to their home in the first place. As the characters change, courage becomes a larger factor in their lives. The courage to resist unjust laws and practices and to display their resistance publicly, even in small ways, makes these characters an inspiration to many readers.