2.9 Reading Response 6 Man in the Mirror

This song by the King of Pop, Micheal Jackson lyrically tells a story about a man who’s struggling with his image and identity within himself. The song portrays great messages about these two topical issues.

The first lyrics in this song are “I’m gonna make a change.” To me this lyric is about making change within yourself. I think its important that to keep growing in ourselves we need to make changes in who we are and how we think. It’s also important we do this to make sure we do this for ourselves, to improve ourselves and not for anyone else or because of anyone else. I think this lyric shows that change is good and is necessary for our own personal growth and development. From personal experience change can be hard and challenging at times but that shouldn’t be a reason to stop us. Moving to Mt Aspiring College was a very big change in my life and a tough one in that. Not only did I have to move to the opposite end of the country but I also left behind friends and family. I had to make a whole new begging, but one year later I can see how I’ve growing into who I am today. Change is very necessary and this song represents this idea perfectly so I recommend this any person willing to make a change for the better in their life. 

I think Micheal Jackson portrays a very important message in this song, being that we must change ourselves before we try change the world. “I’m starting with the man in the mirror.” This lyric shows the listener that not only does he want to put his message out there to the world but he is also taking action. This shows a lot about the world we live in today, it may not be a message that everyone follows but it’s one that I believe needs to be. In our busy world full of war, starvation and poverty so many of us want to help, we want to change the world. Me included. Though it seems overwhelming as theres so much evil. This song aids with that as its grounding to me and makes me go back to my roots. It pushes me to look into what it is I need to change in my self before I overwhelm myself with the problems of the world. I think it’s important that it’s understood that the song is not about being selfish in the fact that we are only changing ourselves, but instead Micheal Jackson is pointing out how it’s necessary that change starts with you. 

“The Man in the Mirror” teaches us that if we want the world to be a brighter place, we have to start with ourselves. “If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change”. I’ve discovered that it’s impossible to change other people as much as I’ve tried. This song inspires me to look into a situation and see what I can take away from it. Whether it’s good or bad theres always a need for us to look at ourselves and decide what we need to change. I find that if I’m not getting along with someone around me, I just have to ask myself what the problem is. More times than not it’s a problem within me thats creating a barrier between this said person and I. Once I can change how I see this problem I’m always able to move past it and in the end grow as a person.

2.9 Reading Response 5 – Life of Pi

The Life of Pi written by Yahn Martel, a novel that tells the story of a young Indian man named Pi. He grows up having a close relationship with animals and is taught from a young age the dangers of them, especially tigers. The story really begins when Pi’s family decides to move to Canada, they depart on a ship stuffed hull alongside the crew and animals. The ship begins to sink and Pi is spilt from his family. He ends up trapped on a lifeboat with a tiger. Here begins Pi’s journey in the vast ocean with nothing but a small raft keeping him and a tiger afloat. 

This novel shows determination and kindness when it comes to survival. ”Richard Parker! Don’t give up, please. Come to the lifeboat…Swim, swim!” When Pi allows the tiger on board with him he proves to the reader that he doesn’t value one life more than another. This has taught me as the reader a lot about what I want to see in the people I have in my life. I want to fill my life with people who have the same values as Pi, who see that all lives are equal. Whether it comes to race or even species. I think this text and this message specifically needs to be wider recognised to people, as it’s important in our busy lives that we see the simpler messages and really go back to basics so we can treat each other right. In day to day life as a teenager in school, I’m faced with people constantly thinking that they are the most important thing in the world. These people need a reality check and if it was up to me I would recommend this book as it pot-rays grounding messages, much like the one I’ve pointed out above. 

This novel shows me that once someone is removed from society and is faced with a life threatening experience, the outside world perishes, who you were before is gone, all that matters is saving yourself. “your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival.” Pi shows us here that when it comes to your own life, you will do anything to survive, no matter what it takes. We know from the previous paragraph that Pi’s kindness is strong but when endless hunger begins to overtake his brain, his hearts motives go out the window. I think that in todays world this relates to a lot of us and not only when it comes to survival. When I see something I want so badly, it overcomes all of my senses and until I get that thing I won’t rest. For example in my life right now my young teenage brain is consumed with the thought of buying a car, a cheap car at that. It’s all I can think about and until my car hunger is filled I wont rest. I see this as a lesson about todays world and the need to fulfil our brains desires whether it’s about survival and food or just plain social status. 

“It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names.” I think this quote alone can teach us a lot about the world we live in today. This quote can be taken either way, whether the people who are effecting us are good or bad. I can relate to this quote on a very deep level as I know that as the person I am that every person I meet or talk to will weigh heavily on how the rest of my day or even week will go. If I have a good experience with a person obviously I’m going to come away from it happy. Where as if the experience was bad it brings me down for a while. I feel that on a social level this is how a lot of the world reacts as if we look at extroverts like me, who buzz off being around people can also get on such a low from just one bad experience with a person. I find it overwhelming how just one person can make or break my day and theres nothing I can do about it. That’s why I find the meaning of this quote important. I want the rest of the world to understand how just being nice to someone could be the changing point in someones day or even the thing that brings a person away from the edge. 

2.5 Perspective Speech

P1 Outline issue

39% of people born onwards from 1990 can’t identify staple veggies, such as leeks or zucchinis. The loss of cooking skills is rapidly decreasing throughout Generation Z, a label given to everyone born from 1990. The way this issue of lack of cooking skills in the youth is heading for a future where nutrition will be determined by the fast and connivence food industries. There are no cooking skills being passed down from parents to children anymore due to, lack of time, availability of connivence foods and lacking nutritional knowledge. I personally dont want to leave my nutrition up to money hungry businesses who cram cheap fillers into foods.

P2 perspective 1 – Lacking time 

In the UK only a third of parents will leave their workplace on time everyday. The modern family is time poor, often with both parents working long hours. Their work commitments overflow into their home time, that then interferes with family time. The traditional model of the family unit where one parent works while the other stays home ( usually the mother) is a thing of the past. With both parents working their is a lack of time for home cooked meals. Instead families are filling their diets with fast and connivence foods. Our lives are increasingly getting busier. In New Zealand prices are rising meaning the only way for your average family to afford their mortgage and other living expenses is for both parents to work full time. Did you know that more than 50% of kiwis think takeaways are the cheaper option. But the truth is its not about saving money but instead saving time. Fast food and takeaways are often collectively more expensive than if you were to budget your weekly supermarket shop. Not only does that impact on the quality of food and nutrition that the modern family are consuming, but additionally, important cooking skills are not being passed down from generation to generation. All of a sudden we’ll be left here not knowing how to make a meal and what goes into our food is left up to the big food corporations. If you think they care about your health and nutrition more than money, you might want to think again?

P3 perspective 2 – Availability of convenience foods 

Mass produced food has a higher energy density than we should be consuming, even the general manager of KFC, Pizza Hut, Carls Jr. and Starbucks believe “their food was meant to be eaten as an occasional treat rather than everyday.” Fast food corporations have make takeaways so accessible that you dont even have to leave your house! So why would you, when with a click of a button food can magically appear. We all need a reality check. These food corporations are making food not for you or me, but for profit. Sodium has increased by 12% in the last 4 years. This proves that fast food restaurants are using things like fat sugar and salt as cheap filers to bulk up their products. Leaving us with the nasty health problems we face. Within the next 20 years 2 million New Zealanders will be classified as obese. This obesity epidemic means that nearly half our population will be clinically obese. Obesity leads to high blood pressure, heart attacks, diabetes and even cancer. The majority of these issues is caused by what we put in our mouths. You are what you eat and this is why we need to get back to basics and re learn the nutritional knowledge we have so easily let go. 

P5 Conclusion 

Guys, home cooking is not putting chicken nuggets into the oven and turning them over after 7 minutes . Its also not as hard as you think to home cook a nutritious meal. In fact it can be fun rewarding and a challenging experience that can be shared with friends and family. I think it’s important to have at least a basic knowledge of cooking skills, as this knowledge comes hand in hand with a good diet. The loss of cooking skills not only causes a lack of good nutrition, its also seriously impacting our health, our budgets and even our sociability. As sadly 10% of generation Z eat alone in their bedrooms.  Its our responsibility to individually take back control of what we are putting into our bodies. Why should the mass produced food giants control our health and wellbeing.  

2.9 Reading Response 4

Home – Machine Gun Kelly, X Ambassadors and Bebe Rexha

I have chosen to respond to the song “Home” sung by Machine Gun Kelly, X Ambassadors and Bebe Rexha because its a song about finding yourself through the rough times life presents us with. It presents the idea of discovering peace in this war zone of a world we live in today. Along with these ideas the lyrics sing “someone take me home”,  telling us that the journey of finding your “home” cannot happen alone, we as humans will always need the help and connection of others. 

I am still young at 16 years old , but this song has helped me over this year to get through the struggles life has presented me with. My grandfather passed late last year and this song has helped me with that in teaching me to find myself with the help of my family and friends. I was able to find peace with him passing even through the rough times. The lyric “I found no cure for the loneliness” has taught me that people come and go and there is no way to stop the hurt you are left with, the only thing you can do is come to peace with myself and let go of the hurting. I would personally recommend this text to anyone struggling with a hurdle life has thrown at them as it may help the person overcome the problem and learn to move on in their journey of finding their “home”.

There is so much trouble in the world today, war striking, poverty and discrimination. In the song home I believe that it can help any listener find their own version on peace away from the rife world we are trapped in. It may be used as an escape for those trapped in a world of pain. “To give me the strength to look the devil in the face and make it home safe” This lyric stuck with me as we all have our own devils in life, may it be an unfair boss, the loss of a loved one or a breakup. It’s relatable but also teaches us that we can’t let our “devil” take away our peace, our home. It proves that it can be hard to face your problems but for our own sake we need to have the strength. We need the strength to be able to find our “home”, to be content in our own skin and lead a harmonic life.

The 21st century has brought to us a lot of growth in how we treat each other. Things like equality and the rising openness about mental disorders. We are becoming the most connected generation to come and this song is a representative of this. We are so connected wherever we are with the rapid growth of social media that we forget to be there for people in real life. “Crowded streets, but I’m all alone”, This sentence is a way of saying that even in a place buzzing with people no one is aware of their surroundings anymore. People have become so good at reaching out to people on the other side of the world but have left their own street feeling empty. I think that within this songs meaning of finding a safe place to call “home”, there is also a side wanting man kind to connect once again, to help each other on the journey of freedom within.

2.1 Portfolio Book Thief Essay

2.1 Portfolio Book Thief Essay
In “The Book Thief” the writer uses book symbolism to reveal the purpose of the text and his writing. These books all have significance in the main character, Liesels Meminger’s life. The three books are “The Shoulder Shrug”, “The Standover Man” and “Mein Kampf.”
“The Shoulder Shrug” first appears in “The Book Thief” when Hitler orders book burnings all over Germany: “We put an end to the disease which has been spread through Germany for the last 20 years or more!”Piles upon piles of books were burned in the streets in an attempt to rid Germany’s so called “failed” history and create a newer, cleaner Germany. Through literature that would be spread over germany people would see what their future as the Aryan Race would look like. We learn that Leisel has no respect for Hitler and the way he leads his country as we read the conversation she had with Hans (her foster father): “Did the Fuhrer take her away?”, Hans replied with “I think he might have, yea”, and Leisel defyingly said “I hate the Fuhrer, I hate him.” Liesel is mad at the fact the Fuhrer has taking her mother away, he’s spilt up her family and she fully blames him for this. This tells us how much Liesel is willing to go against her countries leader, whatever the cost may be. Late at night once the event is over and everyone has left the site, Leisel sneaks back and finds the “Shoulder Shrug” amongst all the embers. Its hot and covered in ash but Leisel doesn’t care, she hides it in her jacket and returns home. This is a very defiant act in Nazi Germany and if she was caught or had been seen she and her family would be in danger. In fact Leisel was caught. As she took the book a lady drove past and looked directly at her, Leisel could only hope she wouldn’t tell anyone. The event around stealing this book shows the reader how much books are beginning to mean to Leisel. It also reveals the idea that Leisel has no problem defying Hitler’s orders even though the consequences could be dyer.
“The Standover Man” had a very significant beginning as the paper the book is written on was once Mein Kampf. This is the book Hitler wrote about his ideas and dreams for his new Germany including his political views and future plans. Max, who is the author of The Standover Man, painted each page of Mein Kampf white so he would be able to write his own story. Essentially erasing a small part of Hitlers legacy, to begin his own. This is significant as Max purified the evil book by covering it in white. This is fascinating as we all know Hitlers signature with the colours of black and red. For max he’s almost erasing a part of Hitlers world by scribing his story onto the reminince of Hitlers philosophy. The book starts with a sentence, “all my life, I’ve been scared of men standing over me”. By writing this book Max taking away a piece of Hitlers power by writing about freedom over the laws of Hitlers new Germany. In this time Hitler is in complete control over the media but again Max has diminished a piece of Hitlers power by putting his message out into the world to allow the new generation to see the truth. Liesel’s one desire at the time was this book and Max gave it to her. I think he did this because he loves her and wants to see her happy. I also think he gave it to her as they relate to issues they’ve both faced. In the Standover Man, Max talks about himself as a bird and uses the word “caged”. I believe this word was used because it represents how Max is “caged” in his real life, he’s stuck hiding away in the dark basement. While the bird shows how even tho Max is trapped his spirit is roaming free with the legacy of the Standover Man. For Max it’s how he took the place of freedom away from his mother while she faced the rath of Hitler, also as long as Hitlers a leader he will constantly be in hiding, living in fear. Liesel is facing the fact that she may not ever see her mother again due to Hitler.
Mein Kampf was written by Hitler and it’s different to the others as Liesel doesn’t steal this book, she doesn’t even read it. Although the significance weighs heavily on Liesel.”Words are life”, Liesel says, showing us the impact not only Mien Kampf has on Liesel, but every book she has red. The words in this book are Liesels day to day life and the rest of Germany’s for that matter. This book is once again related to Max, as it becomes his protection from being discovered. Hans had the idea that as long as Max carried around a book that meant so much to Nazi Germany, he would never be captured. Max also used this book to write his own story by making the pages white. She says, “I’ve hated words and I’ve loved them and I hope I have made them right”. To Leisel this was almost heroic as he was taking all that was bad in the world, and simply erasing it by filing it with kind a loving words. He making the bad words good again and to Liesel he was making the words “right”.
Conclusion 
To conclude the Book Thief shows the ideas of …… Through the use of …..  I believe…..

Liesel Meminger Maturation

1) Initially what would you imagine a person who steals books to be like?
Untrustworthy? Mysterious? Evil? How does Liesel differ from your initial notions of who a “book thief would be”?

2) Explain how these early experiences in Liesel’s life would have affected her as a child? What do these early references to Liesel indicate about how she is going to interact with others? What will be her goals/ objectives in life? What
conflicts/difficulties may she have as she matures?

3) Why are books and words so important to Liesel? How does she learn that words can be used for good and for evil?

4) Why does Liesel vow that she will never kiss Rudy?

5) How does Max’s experience in Nazi Germany alter how Liesel views her own
suffering?

6) Liesel continues to steal books throughout the novel. Why is this act importantto her? What purpose does it serve?

7) Does Liesel live a fulfilled life? What does she ultimately teach us in the novel?

2.9 Reading Response 3

His First Ball – Witi Ihimaera

The short story His First Ball takes the reader through the journey starting when Tuta Wharepapa receives an invitation to the fancy Governors ball. Tuta is a young Maori man, living in a kind of, “nothing town”, he normally goes to work and doesn’t do much else. Tuta resists as his small town quickly jumps on board, pushing him to be someone he’s not. After a very uncomfortable night for Tuta being mocked by white people, he meets a very tall and somewhat un coordinated girl named Joyce. He comes to realise she is an outsider at this ball just like him.

This text is significant to readers as it teaches us not just to fit in, but to be yourself and thats enough. This is important for teenagers especially as it’s a time in our lives where we are testing the waters on who we really are and with this story it helps us to realise that we dont have to “fit in”. The story is basically saying that to fit into society we must first find our true self. We learn this after Tuta has been forced through a journey of “improving” himself in order to attend the ball, when in-fact he didn’t even want to go. Tuta then has a moment of self discovery, “if you could not join them—as if he would really want to do that—then, yes, he could beat them if he wanted to. Not by giving in to them, but by being strong enough to stand up to them. Dance, perhaps, but using his own steps.” This quote teaches us that by being yourself and dancing to your own beat you can truly be happy, it teaches us not to focus on what everyone else wants but what makes you fell confident.

This short story tells me a lot about the world we live in today. Everyone in Tuta’s town jumped on board to make sure he was a better person, Mrs Simmons for manner lessons, Desiree Dawn for dance lessons, even his mum wanted to change him.”Not only did his appearance have to be radically altered, but his manners had to be brushed up also”. This shows that in our societies it seems no one seems to think that if your different its never going to be good enough, someone is always going to want to change you to fit in. To me this seemed unfair for Tuta, until late in the night of the ball when Joyce came into the picture. In Tuta’s thoughts “he suddenly realised that after all he and Joyce were both outsiders.” I see this as the two of them being treated like outsiders just because they didn’t look the same as all the others, Tuta being Maori, Joyce being a tall lanky girl with glasses. They are made to feel mocked just because they are a minority.

Human history has shown how we have treated minorities over the years, black people used as slaves or Jewish people being exterminated. Times haves changed, but obviously not enough if these minority groups like Maoris or the so called “nerds” are still feeling like they have to hid or be the joke in the room. This text is a good example of this as Tuta and Joyce don’t fall into the trap of hiding in the corner anymore, they get up and dance. This shows not only the room but everyone who reads the text that they will not be held down anymore.

 

 

 

Books in The Book Thief

1.The Grave Diggers Handbook

This is the first book Liesel steals and in fact its the book that she finds above the snow next to where her brother was just buried. We are not told the significance of the book but I personally think that because Liesel cannot yet read she see’s it as a momento for to remember her brother. This book stays hidden with Liesel up through the book but holds no purpose until the day Hans finds it. From that point Hans and Liesel work together to read the book. This was a turning point in the book as it was the beginning of Liesel learning to read leading her to aspiring to write.

  1. The Shoulder Shrug

As an attempt to getting rid of the so called “loses” and “defeats” of the “old Germany”, a book burning is started in every small town over the country. The books represent the whole of Germanys history as in that time that was how everything was recorded. To Leisels young eager eyes she could not understand why people would want to burn precious books. To add to this she was very stand offish when the young soldiers forced her to burn a book, she felt pain almost like she was loosing a loved one. Leisel is the last one at the sight of the burning and she manages to find a book that had escaped the fire, she picks it up and hides it in her jacket. The act of Leisel doing this shows defiance to Nazi Germany at such a young age. It also leads to her fearing for her families survival as she was left to put all her trust into the one lady who saw her take that book. What made it worse was that the lady was the mayor’s wife, who by keeping this secret was in-fact putting herself in trouble.

  1. The Dream Carrier

The book The Dream Carrier was stolen by Liesel from Ilsa Hermans library that she had let Liesel into to read her books. The Book is about a young child who’s got no one around and who wants to become a priest. This book becomes another bond between Liesel and Max. This is because while max was in a coma and not able to receive care as he was in hiding, Leisel would read to Max. It was the only way she could help him, by spending time and being there for him even if he wasn’t aware. Max ad Leisels dead brother become a merged dream one night, this is a dream Liesel has being having for close to two years. With Max in a coma we see her feeling guilty for both these evens, as the boys become one.

  1. A Song In The Dark

The green of this book fascinated Liesel, not once had she ever read one like it so of course she had to take it. The theft from Ilsa Hermans library was aloud by the lady herself as she knew Liesels only took what she needed, like she stated earlier on in the book. This book definitely gained meaning over the course of the book. A Song In The Dark was the book Liesel read to her street as the hid in the basement while bombs were being dropped over their town. This book distracted people as they waiting for their unfortunate death. Liesel read because she felt herself, she felt safe and free. This is what she was attempting to do for the scared people of Himmel Street.

  1. The Standover Man

This book was written by Max who paints over the pages of Hitlers ways of Mein Kampf in the pure colour of white. This is fascinating as we all know Hitlers signature with the colours of black and red. For max he’s almost erasing a part of Hitlers world by scribing his story onto the reminince of Hitlers philosophy.  Max also takes away a piece of Hitlers power by writing about freedom over the laws of Hitlers new Germany. In this time Hitler is in complete control over the media but again Max has diminished a piece of Hitlers power by putting his message out into the world to allow the new generation to see the truth. Liesel’s one desire at the time was this book and Max gave it to her. I think he did this because he loves her and wants to see her happy. I also think he gave it to her as they relate to issues they’ve both faced. For Max it’s how he took the place of freedom away from his mother while she faced the rath of Hitler, also as long as Hitlers a leader he will constantly be in hiding, living in fear. Liesel is facing the fact that she may not ever see her mother again due to Hitler.

  1. Mein Kampf.

This book was written by Hitler and it’s different to the others as Liesel doesn’t steal this book, she doesn’t even read it. Although the significance weighs heavily on Liesel. The words in this book are Liesels day to day life and the rest of Germany’s for that matter. But mainly this book is once again related to Max, as it becomes his protection from being discovered. Hans had the idea that as long as Max carried around a book that meant so much to Nazi Germany, he would never be captured. Max also used this book to write his own story by making the pages white. To Leisel this was almost heroic as he was taking all that was bad in the world, and simply erasing it by filing it with kind a loving words.

Characterization in the Book Thief

The characterisation in the Book Thief

Liesel

At the beginning of the text, Liesel’s presented as a sensitive but strong young girl. We learn this when early on in the story when she finds a book hidden in the snow at her brother’s gravesite, she steals the book and holds onto it as a memory of her family until late in the book where it comes to use as Hans teaches her to read. This shows us how determined she is to hold onto the memory of her brother as well as how brave she is to steal and book and keep it just to learn how to read. When Liesel meets Rudy she’s very closed of and throughout the book continues to build up the wall between herself and Rudy. This happens until Liesel finds him on the ground dead, she then crouches down over his body, calling for him, beginning death to give her another chance, regretting how she treated Rudy. This was a changing point in the book, this is where we first see Liesel actually break down her walls, where she actually treats Rudy like a human and not like a nuisance.

Rudy

Rudy lives in a house with five siblings as well as his mother and father in a time where there is not much food around and for a young growing boy, Rudys left hungry the whole time. Rudy presents himself as a somewhat motivated but ignorant young boy. We see this when he covers himself in charcoal pretending to be his idol, Jessie Owens. “He smeared the charcoal on, nice and thick, till he was covered in black. Even his hair received a once-over.”  He wanted to be the fastest runner in the world and at this point in time it was Jessie Owen’s, Rudy didn’t give a second thought to the colour of Jessie’s skin. “I just wish I was like Jesse Owens, Papa”. Being the same age once Rudy meets Liesel he doesn’t leave her side, much to her disliking. Eventually, they became an unbreakable duo, from walking to school together to committing crimes. He cares a lot about her even though she shuts him out till basically the day Rudy dies.

Hans

Hans has recently become Leisels new guardian, to Liesel he is known as “Papa”. We learn early on in the book how Hans resembles a very gentle giant, he’s a tall man who doesn’t speaks softly and with purpose. He treats Liesel with kindness and because of this death reveals how Hans is the one Liesel loved the most. We see the kindness when Hans goes out of his way to help Liesel wit her reading and writing after she was teased at school. When Liesel has nightmares Hans is always there to comfort her back to sleep. Hans is very creative, we see this in his music with the accordion. Hans disagrees with the Nazi party but does things like join it just to protect his family.

Rosa

Rosa is first shown when Liesel is being dropped off to her, she holds a cold and stubborn presence as she demands she was assigned a boy as well as a girl. Rosa is married to Hans and is Liesels new “mama”. She’s harsh on Liesel fro the beginning, calling here Saumensch (meaning swine). Washing and ironing for the more rich people is her source of income and usually gets angry at Liesel and Hans for not doing enough around the house. As a result Liesel has to walk way out of town to deliver the washing.  Through out the book we learn so much more about Rosa. With deaths help we learn that Rosa is only tough on the ones she loves the most, she treats them harshly because she just wants to keep them safe. When Hans was taken away Rosa hugged his accordion each night beginning for him to come home and hold her once again. In fact when Hans returns he is able to play the accordion with Rosa across the table happy as she could be.

Max

Max comes into the book much later than the other characters but still seems to win over Liesels heart and even gets Rosa to take care of him. He is a Jew who is on the run looking for somewhere to hide. hans has always owed Max’s family as in world war 1 without Max’s father, hans would not be here. Max is risking his own and everyone else’s life in the Hubermann house everyday he is there, but what other choice did he have. Liesel bonds with max over the nightmares they share about their past and also the safety they see in Hans.

The Prologue: Colour Imagery

White : 7-9

  1. The colour white is representing the first life taken in the book. It shows that the environment in the scene is taking place in is a winter climate, that snows regularly as the snow must be fresh because its “blinding”.  The colour white shows the snow covered all grounds, ” I felt as though the whole globe was dressed in snow. Trees wore blankets of ice” In the action of Leisels brothers life being stripped from his body, all that death could see was a blinding white, showing us how white because a symbol for her brothers death.

Black : 10-12

  1. The black shows us the colour of the night when planes flew over raiding Himmel street,  through the deep dark the black represents another life being stripped in front of Liesel from deaths perspective. We see the difference between black and white as although both insolences have death, Liesel was not in anyway close to the man who died on this dark night. “To show the poles of my versatility”, this comment from death shows us that he has no schedule, death is death and it comes when it pleases.

Red : 13-15

  1. This time the colour red is not used to represent one person, but instead a whole town of people. Death sees these people as red not maybe not for the blood spilled on the streets but this is the colour these deaths are to him. “The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring”, this shows us that the streets of this town were full of frantic people, screaming and gasping for help while the survivors watch their loved ones be carried away by death.
  1. All the colours death talks about above suddenly become one as we read, “When I recollect her (Liesel, the “book thief”), I see a long list of
    colours, but it’s the three in which I saw her in the flesh that resonate the
    most…Red, white, black. They fall on top of each other. The scribbled
    signature black, onto the blinding global white, onto the thick soupy red.” In the short chapters before this sentence we get shown what each colour means to death and how it see’s them, but that goes deeper, each colour seems to recreate a piece of Germany during its change from Liesels view. White is how Liesels brother died on a cold snowy day. Black shows the dark night on which her town was air raided, it also shows the dark years of those Jew’s (like Max) hiding in attics, basements or old warehouses. Those Jew’s were abandoned and treated like rodents. Lastly red represents the biggest most liquid part of the colours, it’s the town of people Liesel has recently come to love, and how they were killed. It shows the blood spilled throughout the streets were the once walked in harmony. From this we can clearly see that the colours of red, white and black all have seperate meanings but have carefully been constructed together to represent the new Germany, Nazi Germany.

  2. White, description of Frau Hermann. Black, Rudy with the charcoal, Max in the darkness. Red, book burning.