The Voice of ‘Death’; Recollecting the Trauma and Survival of the Holocaust Victims in The Book Thief

Sabitha M M

World War II, Holocaust, Death, Trauma Narrative, Memory, and Recovery.

Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief can be treated within the genre of ‘Holocaust Literature’ as it mainly depicts the story of a nine-year-old German girl, Liesel Meminger and her continuous struggle for survival during the Second World War. Liesel experienced the outrages of war when her brother died and when her mother abandoned her to the care of the foster parents. Narrated through the voice of ‘Death’, The Book Thief presents a story of trauma recovery as Liesel learns to cope with her loss. Through the images of the historical narrative of the holocaust, Liesel’s distinct story conveys the universal story of recovery. This paper intends to analyse the trauma, memory and recovery of Liesel Meminger by viewing The Book Thief as a story of trauma recovery that essentially initiates the collective story of Holocaust survivors. The novel represents the traumatic notions with an emphasis on the changing discourse between the victim and the perpetrator, as it attempts to confront the effects of both holocaust memory and the German perpetrator trauma.

Published Paper   E-Certificate

"The Voice of ‘Death’; Recollecting the Trauma and Survival of the Holocaust Victims in The Book Thief", IJNRD - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NOVEL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (www.IJNRD.org), ISSN:2456-4184, Vol.7, Issue 4, page no.1071-1074, April-2022, Available :https://ijnrd.org/papers/IJNRD2204136.pdf

Volume 7 Issue 4, April-2022

Pages : 1071-1074

Paper Reg. ID: IJNRD_181101

Published Paper Id: IJNRD2204136

Downloads: 000118809

Research Area: Arts

Country: Thrissur, Kerala, India

Published Paper PDF: https://ijnrd.org/papers/IJNRD2204136

Published Paper URL: https://ijnrd.org/viewpaperforall?paper=IJNRD2204136

ISSN: 2456-4184 | IMPACT FACTOR: 8.76 Calculated By Google Scholar | ESTD YEAR: 2016

An International Scholarly Open Access Journal, Peer-Reviewed, Refereed Journal Impact Factor 8.76 Calculate by Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar | AI-Powered Research Tool, Multidisciplinary, Monthly, Multilanguage Journal Indexing in All Major Database & Metadata, Citation Generator

Publisher: IJNRD (IJ Publication) Janvi Wave

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License and The Open Definition