In the novel, “The Book Thief”, Markus Zusak uses elements of Magical realism to challenge and manipulate the reader’s preconceptions of Nazi Germany during WW2. it also shows the reader how the power of words can lead and control ordinary people just like you and I. Zusak shows this deception throughout the novel, by incorporating the immortal character of Death, and causing him to narrate the book through his own unique language, Magical realism is also used when Zusak constructs the fictional town of Molching, in which the events of the book will play out. The final element is the symbolism portrayed through the stolen books which taught Liesel to read and by doing so gave her the power of words.

Magical realism is a genre that alters certain aspects of reality to engage and challenge the preconceptions of the reader. Magical realism contains certain lies and surreal elements which is then integrated into real situations and locations, to add fiction or fantasy into the otherwise bland real world. The use of magical realism first made an appearance in the English language around the mid-1950s. Zusak used magical realism in The Book Thief by adding characters like ‘Death’ who is told to be immortal; and creating fictional settings like ‘Molching’ which is located in an otherwise real world. This use of magical realism alters the reality of the novel and causes the reader’s preconceptions to be challenged as the novel sways from the usual structure of a historical novel.

Zusak uses the element of Magical realism of Death to show how horrific humans can be and what monsters they can actually become. Death does this by normalising death and making the reader relate to the character of Death. When Death states “that’s the sort of thing I’ll never know or comprehend, what humans are capable of.” This reiterates the idea that Zusak is trying to tell the reader through the narrator Death, that all humans can be so incredibly horrible to each other. As a last note, Death says “I am Haunted by humans” this illustrates that even an immortal being like Death is afraid of us and what we can do. He cannot understand why we do such dreadful things to each other. For the reader, the events of the Holocaust seem long gone. They assume that something as horrific as that couldn’t happen again in our present society. Death, however, shows the reader that no matter the time or place, humans can still perform great horrors similar to the likes of the Holocaust. This challenges the reader’s preconceptions and causes them to question their current society, pondering what horrors we are capable of if we feel the need.

Zusak uses the element of Magical Realism, Molching, in the novel The Book Thief to show that humans can still be fooled by words. The town of Molching shows the Power of words because it is a fictional town made up by the author. Zusak makes the reader believe Molching is real by giving it a relative location in relation to real places in Germany, as shown in the quote; “Quite a way beyond the outskirts of Munich, there was a town called Molching”. This places the fictional setting in the real world, making it seems very believable. Therefore, when the reader discovers that Molching is a fictional setting, they start to question what other aspects of the text is fictional, and what other things they have been misled about. Zusak does this to engage the reader and to get them to analyse the text more than they usually would. This can relate to the bigger world, where we are often told information that we are lured to believe and trust, by people in positions of power. This challenges the reader’s preconceptions. The reader reflects on their own society they live in and begins analysing information fed to them, possibly questioning what they have previously been told.

The final element of magical realism Zusak uses is the symbolism of the books. This is represented throughout the novel by Liesel as she learns the power of words. This is shown at the start of the book when Death tells the reader “She was the book thief without the words. But trust me, the words were on their way.” This shows us how Leisel when she first came to Molching, didn’t know how to read or write and so couldn’t and didn’t understand the power of words. With each book Liesel acquired throughout the novel, she furthered her understanding of literature and by doing so develop her understanding of the power of words. “How fitting it was that she was discovering the power of words.” As the reader follows Liesel’s understanding of words, we also gain an increased understanding of how the ‘Führer‘ managed to control the German people. The quote “Yes, the Führer decided that he would rule the world with words” shows the reader that the understanding of words can be incredibly powerful and can enable someone to control masses of people to perform horrific deeds. “The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn’t be any of this, the Fuhrer was nothing. What good were the words?” this shows the reader how differently the Holocaust could have played out without the power of words. “she knew how powerless a person could be WITHOUT words”. this relates to the ‘Führer‘ who manipulated and controlled the Nazi movement and the German citizens with only words. If Hitler didn’t have ‘Words’ then he would have been powerless. This is evident throughout our modern day society, where the things we say, do and sometimes believe is all been injected into our minds by someone from the sideline away from the conflict. this is made especially possible with the ever growing internet and social media; from which people can spread their idealistic views into the minds of millions all with the press of a button. To avoid things by the likes of the Holocaust ever happening again we all need to stay true to our own thoughts and beliefs and avoid being controlled by our own society.

Markus Zusak uses Magical realism in his novel ‘The Book Thief’ to challenge the reader’s preconceptions about Nazi Germany and how the power of words can lead ordinary people to perform extraordinary things. Zusak shows this through three separate ideas; The character of Death, the setting of Molching, and through the symbolism of the books. These show the reader how much power words have over all of us, and the effect they have on us as people and as a whole society. this allows the reader to recognize the weakness they each have in their own community and start changing their actions for the better.