Usage of Foreshadowing in "The Book Thief"
Early in the novel, Death mentions Liesel’s mother and father. Death tells the audience that Liesel’s mother and father are communist. “There was only one thing she knew about her father. It was a label she didn’t understand. A STRANGE WORD: Kommunist” (31) Once the audience understands the setting, Nazi Germany, a clear picture of what happens to Liesel’s parents appears. “She’d heard it several times in the past few years. “Communist.”’
Zusak jumps around in the novel constantly. In the prologue, Zusak jumps to the bombing. Death tells the audience about the bombs and how the sounds of the children laughing and playing in the road remained. “When I arrived, I could still hear the echoes. The feet tapping the road. The children-voices laughing, and the smiles like salt, but decaying fast. Then, bombs.” (12) Here the reader can get a good picture of what will happen later in the novel. Death then tells us how the warning sirens didn’t come in time. “This time, everything was too late. The Sirens. The cuckoo shrieks in the radio. All too late.” (12) Once the audience reads this, it becomes a reality that this German town didn’t survive. The reader also gets the idea that the characters of the novel didn’t make it either. This just builds anticipation.
“You are going to die.” (3) is how Markus Zusak starts off The Book Thief. Before the reader has even finished the first page, Zusak has used foreshadowing. All throughout the novel the reader sees this. By Zusak doing this, the audience is able to stay engaged. Zusak gives little and big clues about what’s coming up, some are obvious and some are not. Zusak foreshadows early in the novel that Rudy will die. “He didn’t deserve to die the way he did.” (241) This leaves the reader with suspense and with that little bit of information; the audience is driven to continue reading. Through the use of foreshadowing, Zusak reveals the death of Rudy, along with many others, and the outcome of Himmel Street. Zusak mainly
Zusak jumps around in the novel constantly. In the prologue, Zusak jumps to the bombing. Death tells the audience about the bombs and how the sounds of the children laughing and playing in the road remained. “When I arrived, I could still hear the echoes. The feet tapping the road. The children-voices laughing, and the smiles like salt, but decaying fast. Then, bombs.” (12) Here the reader can get a good picture of what will happen later in the novel. Death then tells us how the warning sirens didn’t come in time. “This time, everything was too late. The Sirens. The cuckoo shrieks in the radio. All too late.” (12) Once the audience reads this, it becomes a reality that this German town didn’t survive. The reader also gets the idea that the characters of the novel didn’t make it either. This just builds anticipation.
“You are going to die.” (3) is how Markus Zusak starts off The Book Thief. Before the reader has even finished the first page, Zusak has used foreshadowing. All throughout the novel the reader sees this. By Zusak doing this, the audience is able to stay engaged. Zusak gives little and big clues about what’s coming up, some are obvious and some are not. Zusak foreshadows early in the novel that Rudy will die. “He didn’t deserve to die the way he did.” (241) This leaves the reader with suspense and with that little bit of information; the audience is driven to continue reading. Through the use of foreshadowing, Zusak reveals the death of Rudy, along with many others, and the outcome of Himmel Street. Zusak mainly