What’s wrong with this child?” Liesel’s act of rebellion is one the first signs that Liesel is going to take some time to get used to her new home. Parting with her mother leaves Liesel in tatters as Death narrates, “There was the chaos of goodbye.” This shows Liesel’s feelings of this parting and the “chaos shows her pain and agony.Īdditionally, Liesel refuses to get out of the car. Her mother departing leaves her in misery and Liesel rebels against it and she also feels isolation. Secondly, Liesel in also unable to overcome parting with her mother. Therefore, Liesel’s shock, denial, and her nightmares all prove that Liesel cannot overcome the passing of her loved one, her brother, which relates to the theme that no one can fully recover from the leaving of their loved ones. Liesel’s nightmares show Liesel still reminiscing about her brother. Her brother’s death ¦the bed that was meant for her brother floated boatlike in the darkness . Furthermore, the nightmares that visit her each night all center around her brother’s death. Death’s narration shows Liesel in denial as she refuses to come to terms with the death of her brother.

The folding of her arms represents Liesel trying to separate herself from the cold truth and later on, Liesel tries to tell herself about her brother still alive. Tears were frozen to the book thief’s face . Upon seeing her brother’s face, Death states, “Her mouth jittered. Liesel goes through a time of shock, followed by denial, and finally, her nightmares never let Liesel forget about her brother’s death. Liesel has been through a lot in her life and her inability to overcome the death of her brother, the parting of her mother and also the bombing of Himmel Street develop the main theme in this story.įirstly, Liesel’s first time being unable to get over her loss is when her brother dies in her arms. The ultimate theme in this novel is that no one can truly overcome the passing of their loved ones. A theme is the central message of a literary work. In the novel, author Markus Zusak utilizes the difficulties of his character’s pasts to reveal a major theme in this novel. In many great novels, the difficulties of a character’s past develop major themes and “The Book Thief” is no exception.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak