Envelope Topics
The Book Thief
Created by Scott Jordan
Orangeville, Ontario, Canada
What follows below is a series of themes, issues, and literary elements that are central to Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. While reading the novel, collect related quotations on index cards or small pieces of paper and keep them in the supplied envelope. These passages will be used to gauge both the pacing and depth of your reading. Ultimately, the passages you uncover with this strategy will form the backbone of our summative work.
Words
Words, language, books and reading are very important in the novel. Collect cited quotations about the power – positive and negative– of words.
Death
One of the unique elements of The Book Thief is that it is narrated by a personified Death. What is the purpose of this narrator? What kind of “person” is this Death? How is this narrative voice important to the novel? Collect cited quotations about the nature and purpose of Death in the novel.
Symbols
The best literature employs symbols, where objects and actions come to represent ideas. Collect cited quotations about the symbolic importance of the following elements. Include a few jot notes underneath each quotation about the ideas each symbol develops.
- Himmel St.
- the accordian
- Max’s stories
- colours
- Jesse Owens
- food
Hans Huberman
Hans plays a profound role in the novel. Collect cited quotations about his importance. What is the nature of his character? Does he change over the course of the novel? What impact does he have on Liesel and those he meets?
Survival
Early in the novel, Death refers to Liesel as a “perpetual survivor” (Zusak 5). How is this true of Liesel? What enables her to survive? Who else is a survivor in the novel, and what enables them to endure? Collect cited quotations to support these questions – and others – about the nature of survival in the text.
Rudy, Ilsa, and Max
Collect cited quotations about the importance of these three characters in the novel. What is the nature of their personalities, and how do these characters influence Liesel? In what ways do these three characters serve to illustrate central themes?
Bravery
There are numerous acts of bravery in the novel. Collect cited quotations about these acts, both big and small. What motivates these actions, and why do some succumb to their own cowardice?
Stealing
Many things are stolen over the course of this novel: books, food, innocence, and even lives. Collect cited quotations about acts of thievery. Are these acts ever justified? The title of the novel identifies the protagonist as a thief; what statement do you think the author is trying to make about stealing?