Symbolism In The Book Thief

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Forty million people a day view Instagram stories, 79% of teenagers use Snapchat once a day, and 51% use it at least eleven times a day. In fact, teenagers use on average five screens a day (Patel, Deep “10 Tips”). This use of social media makes teenagers happier and gives them something to do after school. But is it a problem that young people are finding all this satisfaction in “likes”? All this time spent on social media and screens could end up with a bad outcome and could be bad for their health. Teenagers know screens could cause them to lose sleep, become more anxious, and even stop communicating with the outside world (Schupak, Amanda “Does Technology”). The Book Thief by Markus Zusak has a similar theme. Liesel, the main character is taken from her mother and dead brother to live with…show more content…
The chapter “The Whistler and the Shoes” is about Liesel and Rudy going to the mayor’s house to steal the book The Whistler. Rudy believes the pair makes the trip to do the usual stealing of food, however, Liesel’s only intention is to steal the book. Liesel is “Starving. For a book”, but Rudy does not know that (287). Once Rudy understood Liesel’s only intention in stealing from the mayor was to get the book, he “wondered what it was about”, and why it was of such great importance to her (291). Rudy did not understand why the book was of such great importance to Liesel, but he knew it was, and readers were now aware as well. Zusak uses the book The Whistler to symbolize Liesel’s happiness. Liesel steals this book after yelling at the mayor using quite a few severe phrases, which could definitely get her in a great deal of trouble considering the power the mayor has. However, stealing this book seems to do the opposite for Liesel and instead brings her delight. Zusak uses this small act of revenge to symbolize the happiness people encounter through their mischievous
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