Magical Realism is the style of creating an imaginary alteration to a fictional subject. Magical Realism can be used to create a different perspective on a subject, changing what the reader believes about it. This shift in perspective can show that the subject has a deeper meaning comparative to what has actually been written. The ‘magical’ of magical realism is out of place in our world, it is foreign to the reader. The ‘realism’ of Magical Realism is taken from the real world, In the case of The Book Theif is based around World War 2 and the trauma’s that human society faced around that time. The use of realism is to make this new perspective more relatable to the reader, It shows that this perspective is very real.
The novel ‘The Book Thief’ written by Markus Zusak uses perspective to convey a deeper meaning of identity, morality and freedom. Zusak does this by using the character Death as an outsider viewing into Nazi Germany during World War 2, He views the world through colours representing freedom. Death watches the story of Rudy Steiner and Max Vandenburg and their transformations. Commenting on their identity rather than their personality. Death poses a view different from the human mind. The death struggles to understand the motivations for human behaviour and how can humans can “be so ugly and so glorious”. Enforcing the beauty of life. This fact means that Death has a different viewpoint on things than the characters did in the novel. Making Death a symbol for the bigger picture.
The beginning of the novel introduces us to the character Death. From the beginning, Death tells us that he views the world first by colour. “First the colours. Then the humans.” Death’s uses colour as a metaphor for true colours. True colours is a representation of a person’s real self, It is the person’s personal morals and their response to the world around them. Death using colours as a metaphor for true colours shows Death didn’t see humans as the person they pretended to be, but rather their true self in there final seconds of life. In these final seconds, the human finally becomes free, free of their problems and worries and finally become their true selves. This allows the readers to understand the previous actions the character had done, based on their morals. Death asks the question of “what colour will everything be at that moment when I come for you?” enforcing us that we will show our true selves in our last moments, cementing what we want everyone to remember us by. This use of metaphor by Zuzak is used to strengthen the Magical Realism in the novel allowing us to find the deeper meaning behind every character.
Deaths position of not being a human and rather an immortal creates a different perspective on the burden of life that humans must endure and questions if humans are truly free. “They have one thing I envy. Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die.” Death cannot die and within this quote regret towards the inability to die is found. We learn that Death does not choose who dies and does not, Death is just the harvester of souls. Death believes that dying represents a humane cycle within the grand scheme of things. This fact enforces the idea that Deaths characteristic of not being able to die is a burden and so he lives through other’s stories. The beauty of life is that death makes life worth living, and the journey that we endure is worth living because it ends. Lifes ability to end makes it so much more precious as we cherish it, knowing it is finite. This idea that living is worth it because of death brings a perspective on life in general, that the struggle humans go through from when they are young to there old age only makes the good things sweeter If in the end “You are going to die.” Zuzak did this to express the beauty of life.
Death shows the idea of finding your true identity by following the story of Rudy Steiner and Max Vandenburg. Asking the question is identity a defining aspect of a person true colours. Death re-calls his encounter with Rudy Steiner when Rudy took the identity of his idol, Jesse Owens, A black American athlete who was a 4-time gold medal winner in the 1936 Olympics. “He smeared the charcoal on, nice and thick, till he was covered in black.” Death states that Rudy covered his face with charcoal to resemble Jesse Owens, this action reveals that not only did Rudy want to be Jesse Owens but that being the same as him allowed Rudy to be a winner. Once Rudy did this it showed that Rudy believed that no matter what race you are, you can be a winner. But enforcing that one race is superior like Hitler did creates the idea that identity is defining aspect of a person and with a certain identity brings a better life. Hitler enforced that Jews were evil and that the superior race is Aryan. “In fact, he walked out German. Hang on a second, he was German. Or more to the point, he had been.” Here Death re-calls his encounter with Max Vandenburg when he was leaving his hiding place and moving on, once Max shaves he disguises himself as “German” Death comments on Max’s transformation from being Jewish to German, this makes the point that Max’s birthright of a german shouldn’t be erased by his religious heritage. The fact is that from Deaths encounters with these acts of changing your identity, it enforces that Identity isn’t a defining aspect of your true colours but rather your past that you can either accept or that you can be your own person and leave the world by your own colours. Throughout the novel, Zuzak makes a point to have characters defined by there actins rather than there identity.
Zuzak’s use of the character Death to imply a different perspective on mortality, freedom and Identity. Through the hidden metaphor of colours representing a person’s true self.. The perspective of Death being an immortal, observing the human drive to live and the inabilty Death has to it. Together with Death re-calling the change of Identity Rudy Steiner and Max Vandenburg did to be accepted into the world. Strengthens the deeper meaning of persepective in The Book Theif. But also the magical realism in it connecting the book to the real world.
1 Comment
Add Yours →Your ideas are good in this piece. Your focus now needs to be on how you express these ideas.
You have added a paragraph at the beginning which is an attempt to bring to your reader’s attention the bigger ideas of Magical Realism and why this genre is often used by authors when they want to ask their readers to address some of the most profound traumas of human society. At this stage that paragraph hasn’t explained all of this sufficiently. I suggest you use the wording of the question to assist you here.
There is clarity in your over-all structure and it’s good to see you using a number of relevant quotations to support your ideas. Once you have further clarified your first paragraph as mentioned above, try to ensure that all your body paragraphs link back to and expand on the point you made at the start.
At a sentence level, you often employ quite a straight-forward, repetitive syntax. This will get in the way of your being able to fully express the complexity of your ideas.
Some of your words are incorrect for the meaning you’re intending to use. I suspect you’re using some kind of grammar checking app and it’s leading you astray. Try reading your work aloud, and paying very close attention to the more complex words you’re using to make sure they’re correct for your purposes.
Feel free to speak to me – or refer to the examples we have worked with in class on our website – to get further clarification of this advice.