Themes in The Book Thief

Colors

Colors and the sky

"First the colors.

Then the humans.

That's usually how I see things.

Or at least, how I try."

-- Death

• In the beginning of the novel Death explains how he uses the colors of the sky to distract him from his job -- carrying the souls of the dead. His "one saving grace is distraction."(4) and since no one can replace him so he can have a well deserved vacation, he uses the colors and makes "distraction his vacation."(5)

"The survivors.

They're the ones I can't stand to look at, although on many occasion I still fail. I deliberately seek out the colors to keep my mind off them, but now and then, I witness the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jogsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise."

-- Death

• Death describes the color of the sky on the three nights he saw Liesel -- or as he says, the book thief -- and the colors are the same colors of the Nazi Flag.

"The question is, what color will everything be at that moment when I come for you ? What will the sky be saying?"

--Death

• I think that Death is insinuating that the color of the sky reflects the situation of the environment and the person who had just passed away.
• Will everything be dark and evil?
• Or will it be light and peaceful?

"For the book thief, everything was going nicely.

For me , the sky was the color of Jews."

-- Death

• The colors of the sky are often associated with the death of someone or something
• In the midst of the holocaust, thousands of Jews were dying a day and their souls were carried away
• Also shows how the deaths were happening frequently so Death never got a chance to look at the color of the sky and get his usual distraction
• "They just kept feeding me. Minute after minute. Shower after shower."

"Above her, the sky was completing its routine of darkening, but far away, over the mountain's shoulder, there was a dull trace of light."

-- Death

• Light = safety
• There is safety among the darkness

Racism/Discrimination

Anti-semitism

"Son you can't go around painting yourself black, you hear?...You shouldn't want to be like black people or Jewish people or anyone who is . . . not us"

-- Mr. Steiner

• Rudy's (Liesels best friend) biggest inspiration was a black athlete named, Jesse Owens. One dau he decided to cover himself in charcoal and his father caught him and hit him in the head.
• He explained politics to Rudy even though he didn't really understand it and told him that he should only want to be a part of the "pure" German race

"...the Jews...the main offender in regard to violating the German ideal."

• Jewish people were Hitlers' number one target to exterminate

"But anything was better than being a Jew."

• Being a Jew in Nazi Germany ultimately much meant death

"The houses were almost like lepers. At the very least, they were infected sores on the injured German terrain."

"What? Is there a monster down there?"

• Liesel is afraid to go into the basement, where the Jew is
• It's ironic how Hans sarcastically referred to him as a monster, because thats how Jews were viewed outside of the Hubermann home.

"What are you a Jew?"

• Being called a Jew became an insult
• Jewish stereotype = greedy people

Dehumanization

"You didn't see people. Only uniforms and signs."

• This quote explains the dehumanizaion of thew German people.
• Hitlers propaganda and speeches mind warped the people of Germany to become his workers and help him terminate the Jews.
• They didn't have a choice. They had to follow all orders or else they would be killed.
• They became his robots.

"If they killed him tonight, at least he would be alive."

• This is about the Jew named Max Vandenburg.
• Like all the other Jews in Germany he was slowly become dehumanized.
• He wasn't allowed to do anything without the risk of being killed. So he was forced to confinement in the basement. Without windows, no idea what was happening in the outside world and slowly deteriorating from lack of nutrition.

"She could see the burning light on Max's eggshell face and even taste the human flavor of his words."

• The Jews were labelled as monsters, unkind and manipulative.
• This quote shows the total opposite, Liesel sees how Max is actually a kind and caring person. That he was human, just like her and didn't deserve the punishment he was receiving.

"A voiceless human. The Jewish rat, back to his hole."

• Another quote proving how the Jews were dehumanized.
• Had no choice, no voice.

"If nothing else, the old man would die like a human. Or at least with the thought that he was a human."

• Towards the end of the novel the people of Molching are watching a group of weak, defeated, Jewish men and women walk towards their death -- to Dachau, concentration camp.
• The Jews were all forced, rather yet fooled, to believe that they were worthless, they were taken away from their homes, their jobs, their families, and their voice. Everything that makes us human they were taken away from.
• So when Hans gives the old man a piece of bread, it gives him the feeling that he is human, because someone cared enough about him to help him out.

Power of words and Propaganda

• The main theme of the book.
• The book is about how powerful words can be, especially spoken word.
• If used properly it has the capability to control, persuade, and injure.

"...words saved his life once. Or at least, words and a man who taught him the accordian..."

• An example of how the author tried to enfore the point that words are powerful by saying they saved a man's life.

"...the remainder of the Nazi recital swept by, either side, lost somewhere in the German feet around her. Waterfalls of words. A girl treding in water."(110)

• This quote is an example of how we sometimes get overwhelmed by what we hear. Too much information at once, or too shocking and you don't really know how to react and are surrounded by the words.

"From Liesels position their voices were only sounds. Not words at all."

• This quote is an example of how we sometimes don't really HEAR what is being said, we hear their voice, and know they're talking but really have no idea what they're talking about.

"Once, words had rendered Liesel useless but now...she felt an innate sense of power. It happened very time she deciphered a new word or pieced together a sentance."

• Liesel didn't always know how to read, they were useless to her but now that she learned to read and write she understood how powerful words are when put together correctly

"She was a girl. In Nazi Germany. How fitting that she was discovering the power of words." (147)

• The whole reason Nazi Germany came about was because of how powerful and manipulative words can be.
• Hitler used his way with words to convince the country that they needed to purify and exterminate all those who aren't "pure Germans" -- blond hair, blue eyes, caucasion.
• It's ironic that Liesel is learning the power of words because the world she is living in was invented on words.

"My fellow Germans," he called, "you can see something here tonight, can't you?" Bare-chested, victory-eyed, he pointed over at Max. "You can see that what we face is something far more sinister and powerful than we ever imagined. Can you see that?"

They answered. "Yes Fuhrer."

"Can you see that this enemy has found its ways -- its despicable ways -- through our armor, and that clearly, I cannot stand up here alone and fight him?" The words were visable. They dropped from his mouth like jewels..."Look at him! Take a good look...As we speak, he is plotting his way into your neighbourhood. He's moving in next door. He's infesting you with his family and he's about to take you over...He will soon own you, until it is he who stands not at the counter of your grocery shop, but sits in the back, smoking his pipe. Before you know it, you'll be working for him at minimum wage while he can hardly walk from the weight in his pockets . Will you simply stand there and let him do this? Will you stand by as your leaders did in the past, when they gave your land to everybody else, when they sold your country for the price of a few signatures? Will you stand out there, powerless? Or" -- and now he stepped one rung higher-- "will you climb up into this ring with me?...Will you climb in here so we can defeat this enemy together? (254)

• Although a long quote, i felt this was the perfect example to show how powerful words can be, and how Hitler was able to rise to power.
• He twists his words to make it seem like Max, and all Jews, are greedy and want to take everyones money and control them, when really Hitler was the one who wanted to control them.

"He talked to people and fooled them into liking him, trusting him."

• This is a quote from one of the novels Liesel reads in the book called "The Whistler" about a man who befriends people and then murders them, like Hitler.
• The only difference is that Hitler befriended a whole country and fooled them into believe his intentions were good and that eliminating the Jewish population was the best decision.

"She sprayed her words directly into the woman's eyes...she became more spiteful. More spiteful and evil than she thought herself capable.

The injury of words.

Yes, the brutality of words."

"...the mayor's wife...was battered and beaten up, and not from smiling this time. Liesel could see it on her face. Blood leaked from her nose and licked at her lips. Her eyes blackened. Cuts had opened up and a series of wounds were rising to the surface of her skin. All from the words. From Liesels words."

• This is a good example of how the saying "sticks and stones" isn't always true. That words can hurt, sometimes even more than an actual wound.
• After the Mayor's wife tells Liesel that they wont need Rosa -- Liesel's foster mom --- to wash their clothes anymore she gets really upset. They were her foster moms only customer and she thought that she wouldn't be able to read in their Library anymore.
• So she took all of her anger out on Ilsa, shooting her with every word spoken. Not holding back or thinking about the aftermath
• The author describe the severity of Liesels words by saying her words caused cuts and wounds, as if Liesel had just physically beaten her up.

Some minor themes:

Thievery, Guilt and Bravery

Themes in The Book Thief

The Major themes are:

Colors, Racism/Discrimination, Dehumanization, The power of words and Propaganda

"Always silent. Always alone. No words, not one." (94)

"The Germans in the basement were pitiable, surely, but at least they hada chance...For those people, life was still acheivable."

symbolizes

Red

Black

White

The road of yellow stars

• All Jewish homes were labelled with the star of david, and no one dared to go near there incase they got "infected"

Colors + Emotions

--> "The only thought that continually recurred was the yellow tear. Had it been dark, she realized the that tear would have been black."

---> "His eyes were trhe color of agony" (393)

SYMBOLS:

Sociological critical lens

This race is considered lowered class and gets avoided/killed because of the Nazi Party goverment

Papa's Music (the accordian)

• "Even Papa's music was the color of darkness. Even Papa's music."(100)
• His music usually cheers her up and brings positivity, but Liesel is too overcome by sadness.
• "The dark, the light. What was the difference?"(100)
• Although Papa's music "was the color of darkness" and darkness usually means danger, she was comforted by it, because his accordian/music is a symbol for good, and safety. So it didn't matter whetere it was dark or light
• "There was an accordian in their ears, a snowman in their eyes..."(313)
• The music and the snowman bring comfort and happiness

Books:

• "It felt like magic, like beauty..."
• Liesel finds comfort and happiness in the books, and in the words.

Snowman:

• "Melt it did though, but somewhere in each of them, that snowman was still upright."(313)
• One day Liesel brought snow into the basement for her Jewish friend, Max. The Hubermanns, Liesel and Max -- Germans and a Jew -- had a snowball fight and built a snowman together.
• Even after the snowman melted, the fact that it brought German and Jew together remained standing tall.

Lamp

• "Through the dark, they rushed to the basement. The lamp was lit."(372)
• The lamp brings a sense of safety as they walk through the dark.