Symbols
The accordion symbolizes hope and comfort; Hans often played it, and he was portrayed as a very comforting person to Liesel.
Hitler symbolizes power and leadership for his followers, and he symbolizes terror as well; this obviously comes from Hitler’s responsibility for causing World War II and the Holocaust. In the novel, Hitler terrorizes Liesel by taking away her real parents and one of her adopted parents.
The Nazi Flag symbolizes fear prejudice, and terror. Scarlet red symbolizes blood.
The accordion symbolizes hope and comfort; Hans often played it, and he was portrayed as a very comforting person to Liesel.
Hitler symbolizes power and leadership for his followers, and he symbolizes terror as well; this obviously comes from Hitler’s responsibility for causing World War II and the Holocaust. In the novel, Hitler terrorizes Liesel by taking away her real parents and one of her adopted parents.
The Nazi Flag symbolizes fear prejudice, and terror. Scarlet red symbolizes blood.
The Swastika originally represented good fortune, but due to Hitler’s misuse, it came to represent the same things the Nazi flag and Hitler symbolized. From a visual standpoint, it can represent the spread of Nazism (the arms of the swastika stretch out) into the innocent world (represented by the white circle; the world is not completely innocent, but at the same time it is not overrun by violence from the war and the Holocaust until Nazism spreads). As Nazis spread, they take the Swastika with them on their left arm.
Books symbolized resistance of the Nazis; for example, the stealing of a book from the burning book pile defied Hitler’s will to have all books burned, and the painting over Mein Kampf showed a lack of respect and a lack of acceptance for Hitler.
Point of View
Death narrated the novel in a First Person Limited point of view (an example of anthropomorphism (personification). The use of death as a narrator allows Zusak to portray everything occurring in the war, not just Liesel’s experiences. It allows death to show the war occurring outside of Molching as well.
Style
Bolded Text, which the narrator, death, often implements, is used to make side note. There is also an apparent bluntness in the writing, which death uses to reveal many things about himself as well as the turn-out of certain characters; he reveals Rudy’s death
as opposed to foreshadowing Rudy’s death or chronologically waiting to reveal Rudy’s death when it occurs.
Imagery
Death is interested in the colors of the sky, especially when characters in the story die. Death gives each dead person a color of the sky, which defines them in a way, giving them an identity, like their souls (because death takes their souls). Death also likes to eat the different colors while he takes people’s souls.
Point of View
Death narrated the novel in a First Person Limited point of view (an example of anthropomorphism (personification). The use of death as a narrator allows Zusak to portray everything occurring in the war, not just Liesel’s experiences. It allows death to show the war occurring outside of Molching as well.
Style
Bolded Text, which the narrator, death, often implements, is used to make side note. There is also an apparent bluntness in the writing, which death uses to reveal many things about himself as well as the turn-out of certain characters; he reveals Rudy’s death
as opposed to foreshadowing Rudy’s death or chronologically waiting to reveal Rudy’s death when it occurs.
Imagery
Death is interested in the colors of the sky, especially when characters in the story die. Death gives each dead person a color of the sky, which defines them in a way, giving them an identity, like their souls (because death takes their souls). Death also likes to eat the different colors while he takes people’s souls.