How does Markus Zusak employ magical realism to communicate his ideas about human nature in the novel?

The novel ‘The Book thief’ by Markus Zusak, tells a story of a young girl living in Nazi Germany with a love for words, through the eyes of the character of death. Zusak has written the book in the genre of magical realism, a genre-based around the idea of putting something unrealistic or impossible in the setting of the real world. The author uses metaphors, language, and narration to strengthen his message. There are many ways this novel can be interpreted but I will be exploring the idea of how death impacts our human nature and how this is shown through magical realism.

“They have one thing I envy. Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die.” The character of Death delivers this line as an indication of the burden that has been placed upon him. He is telling us that he envies that we have an option to come to an end which is implied that he does not. This is adding another layer of magical realism, the first layer being the character of Death himself, the next being giving him emotions like the ability to feel envy for something. Zusak included this to almost give hope towards our ability to die and pity for the character of death who cannot die. The book itself contains many deaths, all of which are deeply feared by the characters. He is instigating the idea that we are lucky for the thing we fear the most, this concept is almost impossible for the human mind to grasp. If Death was not an option our precious human nature would fade to the idea of no consequences to our actions. Human Nature requires rules for us to function, the consequences of not following rules often results in death. We see a glimpse of this in the book when the children have no food, the children begin to steal food from nearby farms. They have little to lose so they become more reckless with their actions. Leisel is aware that it is wrong but the threat of being one step closer to death is enough to overrule her morality.

Markus Zusak set the story of ‘The Book Thief’ during WW11 in ‘ Nazi Germany’, The nation was controlled by a Dictator. Millions of people were dying for being any kind of different, this promotion of the fear of death was how Hitler gained followers. “I’ve seen so many young men over the years who think they’re running at other young men. They are not. They’re running at me.” – Death. He is stating that the idea of escaping death by approaching it is naive. This is Markus Zusak’s is using Deaths antidote to convey the message that we are often blind to the danger in our life. For Leisel it was the words she worshipped as they had given the power to her leader. From a reader’s perspective, I felt frustrated for Leisel as she had no control over the events of her life. This is a choice made by Markus Zusak to install the same frustration that the german citizens must have felt while having to deal with very little freedom. He is using an idea to provide us with a feeling similar to the one felt during the second world war.

“Rudy Steiner was scared of the book thief’s kiss. He must have longed for it so much. He must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them.” Death is using this quote to foreshadow the death of Rudy Steiner. Markus Zusak allows Death to jump through timelines as a way of creating suspense as to how the results he talks about happen. This is a magical realism feature that is ‘impossible’ but it is added into a real setting. The meaning behind this quote is that Rudy had such a deeply rooted love for Leisel that he had decided to live without her kiss, he was counting on having more time to earn her kiss. Every human mind is aware of the inevitable death but relies on the thought that ‘it couldn’t be me’ , this mindset prevents us from acting through instinct.This is Zusak’s intention, to plant a reminder that we like the citizens of ‘Nazi Germany’ may not have tomorrow.

The response to losing a loved one varies from person to person. Throughout the book, we see how each character copes with the loss and how this reveals their character. Michael Holtzapfel, after the death of his brother, took an astounding toll on his mental health pushing him to suicide.” He killed himself for wanting to live.” The pain he felt was so immense that Michael saw no other choice but to end it by surrendering to the angel of death. It is in our human nature to survive but he was buried in guilt which stripped away his survival instinct. This can be described as the ‘fight or flight’, Rosa Huberman chose to fight against grief by continuing to be a mother and a friend, whereas Michael elected the ‘flight’ by running away from his pain forever. It is hard to know what we would do until we are in a situation that forces us to choose.

Every person who has seen death up close and is still living on is a great deal stronger. This is an evolving mindset and better prepares the individual for future situations of conflict with death. After the death of everyone Leisel had ever known, she moved abroad and started a family of her own. This is magical realism, As Leisel having a happy ending from where she started, is the near-impossible in the real world. The chances of this one little girl surviving a bomb are near impossible, her survival is an example of Magical Realism. Zusak added this as a pleasing end to distract from the death of every other character. He also incorporates didacticism in his work; this is a language feature used to inform the reader of a specific moral or political lesson. We see this in the idea that Adolf Hitler uses words to gain power and followers, Many would consider it morally wrong to exterminate citizens based on their skin color, belief or sexual preference yet he used words to manipulate the public to aid him. Zusak is shining a light on a few varied perspectives from the german citizens in WWII and how many of them were naive enough to side with the Fuhrer. The moral lesson is that words are powerful and it is how we use them that counts. The character of Death often mentions that he carries around the book Leisel wrote about her life, as it was deeply moving, He is a fictional character so it is impossible for him to carry around a book but this is an example of Leisel using words in a morally correct way, to inspire and inform. That is a ‘magical realism’ feature to show that Death was more than just a narrator of Leisel Memingers’ childhood, he was emotionally invested in her story.

Markus Zusak used ‘Magical realism’ brilliantly in ‘The Book Thief’ to show that death has the capability to evolve and impact our human nature and our actions. As listed above their are many ideas and events in the novel that had an effect on the characters. I believe that Markus Zusak conveyed his ideas and perceptions in a very original manner which added to the delight and sorrow of ‘The Book Thief’.

‘make them come back alive please lord please all of them’