The Use of Foreshadowing, Irony, and Symbolism in The Book...

The Book Thief Short Essay: The Use of Foreshadowing, Irony, and Symbolism in The Book Thief 4/17/14 In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, the narrator uses foreshadowing, irony, and symbolism. â€Å"Here’s a small fact, you are going to die† (3). As readers, we are engaged in the story because we are part of the story. The narrator, who is a personified death, is referring to the readers when he says â€Å"you†. Here, it is foreshadowed that many people, including the reader, will die in the near future. This is verbally ironic because death refers to this as a â€Å"small fact†, even though the subject of death is usually considered a significant and sensitive topic. This statement symbolizes the insignificance that narrator feels towards human life.†¦show more content†¦Finally, verbal irony is shown when death says, â€Å"It kills me sometimes, how people die† (464). This is ironic because even though the narrator, death, isn’t actually dying himself, the sight of humans dying just â€Å"kills† him. It must be hard for deat h to see people die every second of his life, and perhaps the readers can feel sympathy for death. This quote shows a thematic idea of death, which shows up again and again throughout The Book Thief. Irony creates a better reading experience for the audience and furthers on thematic ideas. Symbolism is very important in the Book Thief because certain symbols keep the reader engaged and furthers on thematic ideas. One important symbol in The Book Thief is bread, which symbolizes humanity. When a jew parade lumbers down Himmel Street, Hans gives away a slice of bread to an old jewish man who is suffering. Hans, who is very hungry along with the rest of Germany, could have eaten the bread instead of giving it away.This shows that where there is great evil in the world, there is is also great kindness. There are multiple times when bread is used to care for someone else. Next, another meaningful symbol in The Book Thief is Liesel’s books. Over time, as she begins to learn to read and write, Liesel steals many books. Her first book, â€Å"The Gravedigger’s Handbook†, symbolizes the life that Liesel used to have because she stoleShow MoreRelatedThe Book Thief Literary Analysis1198 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"I [Death] am haunted by humans† (Zusak 550). This example of imagery, a literary device, in The Book Thief juxtaposed how Death was haunted by the cruelty of human action, just as how humans were haunted by Death. Literary devices were implemented by authors to create gripping stories that they wanted to share with their readers. Novelist Aldous Huxley once said that â€Å"the essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about everything†. While casual readers may not realize the intricaciesRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini2486 Words   |  10 Pagesprogresses along. From all of this, Hosseini tries to illustrate the ideas of the search for redemption and the persistence of past and how these have major influences on peoples’ lives. The plot structure of this novel is that of in media res. With the use of flashback to open the scene, the protagonist, Amir, rewinds to his childhood 26 years back to envision the story of what had happened. There are numerous types of conflict that occur within The Kite Runner. The first type of conflict that we encounterRead MoreBook Report On The Book Thief 2183 Words   |  9 PagesKaty Flanagan World Lit. Honors The Book Thief Questions 1.Based on the title of the novel The Book Thief I expected the book to be about a person who became involved in stealing books. I imagined it to be about some kind of challenging time where it was not good to have books causing someone to need to steal the books. 2. The narrator of the novel is death. He is sarcastic and gives the book some comic relief when it is an intense part of the novel. Liesel Meminger is the main character. SheRead MoreEssay about Faustus Study and Opening Speech3593 Words   |  15 Pagessoliloquy, then, marks Faustus’s rejection of this medieval model, as he sets aside each of the old authorities and resolves to strike out on his own in his quest to become powerful through magic. As is true throughout the play, however, Marlowe uses Faustus’s own words to expose Faustus’s blind spots. In his initial speech, for example, Faustus establishes a hierarchy of disciplines by showing which are nobler than others. He does not want merely to protect men’s bodies through medicine, nor doesRead MoreSniper and How Much Land Does Man Require5559 Words   |  23 Pageshe is buried in just six feet of earth. The whole story illustrates how foolish people can be when they try to be too important and to acquire too much. Tolstoy uses the same theme in another simple story titled What Men Live By. Tolstoys whole philosophy in his later life is pretty much exemplified in the Sermon on the Mount in the Book of Matthew in the New Testament. He himself gave up his privileged position as a Russian nobleman and worked as a cobbler and a teacher of peasant children. Posted