Impressions+of+the+Novel-+CW

Impressions of the novel:

4/2 I have really enjoyed The Book Thief. I think the use of Death as the narrator shows the reader many viewpoints of the events demonstrated in the novel. The reader gets to learn about the hilter youth programs through Rudy and his friends. Through Hans Huberman, the author reassures the reader in that there was still hope and kindness left in Germany at the time. He helps Leisel through her sadness of losing her family, particularly the death of her brother. He teaches her how to read, which brings her much happiness and seems to lighten the mood of all dreary situations in the book. That is a point often lost in the history books as I have come to find thoughout studying World War II. I see Frau Huberman as the symbol for desprate times for the Germans. With her Laundry business I really got to see how these desprate times affected a German who wasn't a Jew in a negative way. The author also makes a point to emphasize the terrible food available, adding to the sense of desperation. Using death as the narrator adds to the sense of hostility and despair at the time the nazi party rose in communist Germany.