summary

The narrator introduces himself and the book thief in a mountain range of rubble where he discusses his job as death and collecting the souls as a result of dying. Death in this book finds the most troubling thing to do with his job is leaving the humans grieving behind (although he tries not to focus on this).

Death then goes on to discuss the times he has seen the book thief (a girl) and how he was drawn to her during these three times. The first is on a railway train traveling in Germany through the snow when he collects a young soul, the colour is white. The second is after a plane crash when he collects the soul of a pilot after a teddy bear has been placed on the chest of a body this colour was black. The last time was after bombs struck and the book thief is howling in a city like area, this colour was red.

Quotes

“First the colours. Then the humans. That’s usually how I see things. Or at least how I try.” – Narrator

This quote de-humanises the narrator and slowly develops the character of death by showing us he is observing human activity as if it’s not normal. it also shows an inner conflict that although he isn’t supposed to have emotion through his job he still feels. Colour is symbolised as a distraction from feelings.

Death, the narrator of The Book Thief, introduces himself by telling us we are all going to die. Immediately he undermines our expectations of him as being a cold, emotionless figure of horror by revealing his almost-human vulnerability. Instead of performing his role, harvesting souls, in a detached way, he allows himself to be emotionally affected by a single individual, who he initially names “The Book Thief”. This is a source of conflict for him “First the colours. Then the humans. That’s usually how I see things. Or at least how I try.” It is clear that, for him, the emotional toll death presents to human beings is a source of distress for him.
“It’s the leftover humans. The survivors. They’re the ones I can’t stand to look at, although on many occasions, I still fail.” If an entity as powerful as Death is affected by this individual, it follows that there must be something significant about this death, and this survivor. Zusak is using the device of the narrator to focus our attention. We don’t yet know why.

“It’s the leftover humans. The survivors. They’re the ones I can’t stand to look at, although on many occasions, I still fail.” – Death

This quote describes the idea that death can feel and observe human pain even though due to his previous statement he tries not to, once again suggesting inner conflict.

“something white. Of the blinding kind.” – Death

Death describes the first time he encounters the book thief and takes notice of white. White is a symbol for loneliness and purity and so seems fitting for the loss of a child (a small boy corpse in the others arms).

“The world was sagging now, under the weight of all that snow”

This sentence literally describes the setting (all that snow) but also figuratively shows us the heaviness of the death of a child so small by displaing snow as a symbol of the childs death and once again tells us that death recognises this heaviness and so shows us he can feel.

Surrealism- an art form aimed at expressing imaginative dreams and visions free from conscious rational control. 

Ollie (devil’s advocate)

Evie (Shut down by Indy consistently)

Indy ( is Indy)

I: OK, plastic surgery

O: Only if necessary for medical – like deformities and things

I:

E:i mean, some people like boobs (giggles)

I: Ollie, you suck! I think you can do whatever the hell you want with your body, it’s up to you.

E: Er…

O: Have you seen the fails that people have

E: Yeah?

I: You mean like this one?

E:

O: Yeah like that!

I: Well they did that to themselves! And that’s okay.

O:well some people end up looking like pandas and they have beautiful faces.

It’s just this contrived thing that the elitist in the world are trying to…

I: But this, but this makes them feel better, this makes them-

O: who says that they get excessive plastic surgery to the point of breaking

I: Have you seen about, like… What about, what about like… what about like plastic surgery for like, male to female, female to male.

O:yeah that’s great, that’s what I mean by medical reasons

I: That’s not medical reasons. That’s because they feel like that’s who they are.

O: well then that’s a completely different topic, I’m talking about beauty, beauty versus change in gender

E: It’s pretty much the same, Ollie, if you feel like who you are has huge lips, then you want huge lips. (To self) If you feel like who you are has a big butt, then you want a big butt

I: Or little insecurities that bother you every single day until you cannot live with it. They are totally fixable with just like, one little injection.

E: So some people do like… Oooooh nooo! You are recording this, right?

I: (Inaudible)

E:

O:

I: Some people do like boobs! (giggles)

E:

O:

I: Oh, what did I say after that?

E:

O:

I: Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Lalalalalalalalalallllllllll. Ollie! Ollie! Ollie! Ollie!

E:Shhhhh, Indy, listen to what he is saying first

O:

I: Errrrrr…

E: How many minutes?

O:

I: No it’s not, it’s 14.

E: We do this a lot

O:

I: No.

E:

O:

I: I would just like to, I would. (Teacher talks) I would just like to point out that (Pause) people who get plastic surgery, they take all of this into consideration. They’re like, “would I rather ahve this hematonin blood pocket,” um… What was I talking about

E: Orrr would they rather have a kewt nose job

O:

I: Yeah, a cute nose job and potentially get this hematoma thing or would I rather not get hematoma which is probably a thing I could get anyway and not have a cute nose.

E: Look, Ollie, it’s like risking for…

O:

I: That’s not true, that’s not real. (Pause: Looks at photos) That’s not real either, these are all photoshopped.

O: Can you prove that?

I: Yes!

O: (Typing)

I: Go back to Caitlyn Jenner

O: Who’s that? (Typing)

I: That one, that one.

O: This one?

Pause, Indy pulls out phone.

I: This is Caitlyn Jenner now.

O: You can see a difference, though.

I: She’s old! She’s gotten old!

O: Um…

I: She was a man.

O: Okay, “people who undergo breast surgery may experience contouring or asymmetry problems, or those undergoing, um, facial surgeries don’t,  simply don’t like the result.”

I: Okay, okay, show me that picture you had before.

O: So, this one… Or, this one?

I: Lindsay Lohan. Does not look like that.

E: Ok, so…

I: Kim Kardashian, she NEVER looked like that. ‘Cause that’s her mario pallet, and she only got that in the last couple of years, and she hasn’t gotten any plastic surgery in the last couple of years. I watch TOO MUCH ‘KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS’ for you to fool me with this bull****!

E: (Laughs)

O: You clearly do. Um… I think: plastic surgery for gender change, sure, and sex change, yes. Gender, err, sorry, err. Surgery for those who have severe, or, um otherwise, err… Deformities on their body. And for those who have it for other medical or, like emotional reasons. But if you say, “I think my nose is a little bit too small, I’m just gonna tweak it this way and I’m gonna do it like this and I’m gonna lift my face and I’m gonna do all this stuff,” and it’s not actually healthy to obsess over those kind of things-

I:  But you don’t have to be obsessed…

O: -you have to be grateful with the face that you’ve been given, and the body that you’ve been given.

E: Yeah, but-

I:  I don’t know if I can be friends with you-

E: Ollie…

I: -after you talk about this!

E: Okay, look, Ollie, Ollie.

I: You, said you- wait, Ollie, Evie.

E: Stop, no no.

I: Evie, Evie, shhhh…

E: Da, daaaaargh!

I: Err, Ollie. You genuinely believe that if someone is not happy with their body that they should just leave it like that.

O: You’re always taught that, that, just be happy with what you’ve been err… given, like.

I: But no! That’s not how it is! You don’t like something, you find a way to fix it! Probl-

Audio cuts out due to Indy’s phone overheating (likely from the heat of the argument).

The little mermaid is a short story written in the early 18th century in  Denmark about a young princesses curiosity to learn about another world. Beautifully constructed, Anderson creates a universe of wonder and hidden relatable themes throughout the chronical that we will be exploring in this article including the plot, the characters, themes, etc. I would recommend this book to anyone with a passion for tragedy and a love of literature, it’s great for all ages but to really grasp a deeper meaning I would say it’s more suited to people 13 and over. 

the plot of the little mermaid is dark and tragic. The little mermaids will to gain an immortal soul causes her immense physical and emotional pain until eventually killing her, but instead of becoming sea foam ( as explained in the book) she becomes a daughter of the air where she can earn one. Although some would argue that the plot was about her love of the prince and his betrayal, I would say it was about her longing for immortality. This is because in the beginning we are told that mermaids don’t have immortal souls and can never reincarnate but humans do and can explained by her grandmother, “we have no immortal souls, we can never live again.”, this creates a longing in the princess for more than 300 years of life ( mermaid life span) and for her soul to be immortal, because of this she feels isolated in her kingdom as she wanted to live on, “so i must die, and be dashed like foam over the sea… Tell me dear grandmother, are there no means by which i can obtain an immortal soul?”. Her grandmother tells her that the only way she can gain an immortal soul is if she marries a human who loves her and in doing this he gives her part of his. At 15 she meets this man when she rises to the surface of the sea and although this man loves her, he doesn’t marry her. So heartbroken she has a chance to live if she kills the prince with a cursed dagger but would rather die then know she lost her love. so she sacrifices herself knowing she could never live again but is saved and can earn her immortal soul because she was of such pure heart . Beautiful and heart-touching the little mermaid is about losing one thing but gaining another, it’s a story about values and loyalty even if one is not. 

The characters in The little mermaid are all oblivious to her suffering, all apart from one. The sea witch (enchantress), although portrayed as wicked, wasn’t really the cause of her pain. The little mermaid wanted to achieve her ultimate goal (immortality)at any cost and the sea witch was merely there to help achieve it but she did however enjoy the little mermaids misery as she was a twisted character, more of a trickster than evil. you know this because she laughs when she explains how she will go through excruciating pain with legs. Another leading role in her journey is the prince. The prince is probably the most vain and careless in the whole story, he was the real villian in disguise as he didn’t seem to notice how his actions affected the little mermaid and in the end he lost her killing her in the process. The characters symbolise how alienated the little mermaid was from everyone around her, almost unnoticed which to many people in our society today relate to, she didn’t feel connected to her home, so from a young age turned to the world above her which is why she so longed to see it in her youth before she turned fifteen.

There are many different themes woven into this folktale but the main theme that shines through is love. The Little Mermaids curiosity drove her to want something more than she all ready had, but her love for the prince and the land drove her to risk everything in search of returned love. This love caused her much pain including her death but in doing so gave her a another life (when she was told by the sea witch if she didn’t marry the prince she would die and even when given another chance, she chose his life over hers but because of her pure heart, she was rescued by the air sisters) which in christianity represents reincarnation and rebirth (her chance to gain an immortal soul). Anderson’s theme of love holds a very well known message “love conquers all”. 

In conclusion, The little mermaid is a stunning chronicle with twists and turns throughout the story leaving you wanting more. Great for adults and children alike, it gives us a glimpse of our existing realities and teaches us that if we match our actions with our integrity, no matter how difficult the situation we will be ok in the end. The Little Mermaid is a story about ones love of curiosity and the people around them and how it guides you to your goals through hard struggle. A perfect lazy Sunday read for someone who understands that we are never to old to read fairytales (; .

“The more one knows fairy tales the less fantastical they appear; they can be vehicles of the grimmest realism, expressing hope against all the odds with gritted teeth.” 

-Marina Warner

 

The once lively boulevard was silent, it was always so vigorous in summertime with the hubbub of tourists in awe of old teresa’s voodoo shop and her tacky tricks, or the usual jazz band in front of Martins attracting locals for a good sessions jam. Now the heat is just overwhelming, like your swimming in suffocating air and you can’t come up to breath, boiling your blood with every couple of strides.  The building got closer, like it too, was walking towards you, the old familiar window that was once a masterpiece, with carved wooden frames and rectangular shutters, now rested smashed, destroyed and left on the concrete, like it meant nothing. Like this building meant nothing, like New Orleans meant nothing. But it did. the little room inside the building was small, but home like, with a little kitchen on the left and beautiful hand carved chairs placed in a circular pattern around a maple wood table, the carpet may have been over used and ragged but kept the family warm in the winter, but now the chairs were snapped the maple table turned over, the kitchen tiles left broken. It was gone, your life was gone. She was gone.

Twilight embraces the slowly fading sky, enveloping the last rays of sunlight and draining the pastel colours into the mountain side before replacing it with a thick blanket of obscurity and sun swallowing gloom. Millions of minuscule lights spread across the empyrean atmosphere,  reflecting the perfect image of dancing sun rays, shimmering across an ocean of blue, being frozen into place, like the sky itself was a painting of a calm sea. The usual escalated cacophony of people and animals gradually diminishes into a soundless peace, echoing throughout the area, clinging to the distant trees and leaving the surroundings in melancholy silence.

 

For me, the ending of romeo and juliet in the movie was annoying and emotionally over whelming, i think that this was because of the over dramatized style of filming. The books ending i found strangely satisfying, although romeo and juliet did die, the mending of the family feud brought some kind of peace. I also felt that this is because the context and era of the book made me feel like they were going to a better place.

” I Dreamt my lady came and found me dead…And breath’d such life with kisses in my lips

That i reviv’d an emperor”

 

romeos dream explains the future events and that juliet, once awakened would find romeo but with kisses on his lips gives him peace, and when they are both dead, they are reviv’d to be together at last. so without knowing it, romeo explains his fate, and is giving us another hint.

I think the word emperor isn’t such as literal but is used to describe his feeling to be with juliet again in the afterlife and being reviv’d isn’t coming back to life literally, but death gives him his afterlife, to be with juliet. if that makes sense…