Message

[anthonywang]

What do you think is the author's message in The Book Thief?

[eliasrust]

I think that the author's message is that you shouldn't take anything for granted, because it can leave as soon as it came. Obviously Liesel's story is very brutal, but it still conveys the message. She loses her brother and her mother, and then as soon as she settles down and things end up being happier she loses Max, Hans, Rosa, Rudy, and most of her friends that she ever had. She regrets not kissing Rudy when he was alive, and it was too late after he died. Of course, the silver lining at the end of the book is that Max comes back, but that won't take away all of the people Liesel loved that she had lost.

[anthonywang]

There are many messages found throughout the novel in my opinion. Zusak posits several messages in The Book Thief, most prominently the message that humans have the capacity to be resilient and compassionate. Throughout the novel, the characters are faced with incredible obstacles that they manage to overcome because they have developed compassionate relationships with others. Hans Hubermann is a pinnacle of compassion and morality in the novel as he risks his and his family's lives to maintain his moral beliefs. He believes that Max has the right to his life, and therefore, agrees to hide him in the basement. Likewise, he offers food to one of the marching prisoners to appease the man's suffering even though Hans knows that he will be punished. Liesel respects and loves Hans for these actions. She also remains resilient through the novel, and skirts and alters her own sense of morality to suit the times. She is such a strong person that even Death must stop to take note of the little girl's story. One is the value of literature. Liesel learns quickly the power of knowing how to read and write - and learns late at night with her foster father, Hans. It is as she gains these skills that Liesel develops more courage and strength as an individual. Another prevalent theme is the overall idea of the inevitability of death. The book is told by Death as the narrator. Many of the characters die throughout the book - but through this point of view - loss of life is not necessarily mourned nor is death glorified. It is simply presented as a reality of life. Because of this perspective, though this is largely a "war book" it is not really seen as a tragedy. Another message conveyed is the power of humanity to come together in a time of crisis. I agree with Elias because the book is set before and during WW2. Liesel's own parents give her younger brother and her away to a foster family in order to save their lives. The foster parents take Liesel (her brother dies) in and even show her love and worth - despite the fact that she is not related to them. Later, they house a Jew in hiding because he is a man who saved her foster father's life in WW1. Despite the constant threat of death, this family is one that courageously chooses humanity and life through the risk of their own death.

[Mete Bakircioglu]

Though there are many themes that Zusak exhibits throughout the story, I believe that the one overarching theme or message is that life is too short to take for granted. This idea is supported by Death, or more accurately, what Death represents: the constant of everyone's life. With the help of the literary element of foreshadowing, Death alludes to the death of everyone but Liesel at the end of the story to be a given. Death speaks as if it should not be a spoiler, as we know well that everyone dies at some point. The way that Death nonchalantly gives away the ending of the story goes to show that in a sudden moment, everything you hold dear can disappear. Zusak never once mentions this theme through Death because it is not aware of life being so precious to humans, because Death will never encounter death, which is the somewhat ironic beauty of this message.