Potential of the Book Thief to Become a Television Series Essay Example

For a long time, film adaptations of books have dominated Hollywood, whether it be movies like Harry Potter, or television series such as Game of Thrones. Adaptations of books in the film industry commonly result in high box office numbers. The Book Thief, set in Nazi Germany, has incredible potential to become a television series, its engaging characters, its fascinating themes, and its magnificent scenes. For these reasons, The Book Thief would become an outstanding and entertaining television franchise.

Isn't it important to create interesting characters for your story? Unsurprisingly, Markus Zusak created many fascinating characters in his hit novel The Book Thief, but a couple characters shine above the rest. What is common between these two characters? Character Development. Liesel starts off the novel unable to read and is untrusting to the people around her. As the book progresses, she learns to read from Hans, and loves the people who surround her. An amazing example of this is her relationship with Ilsa Hermann, Liesel towards the start of the novel has a great relationship with Ilsa but it all changes when The Mayor and Ilsa fire Rosa, Liesel is incredibly angered by this event and feels spiteful about Ilsa. ““That bastard mayor,” she whispered. “That pathetic woman.”” these quotes show how Liesel thinks of Ilsa. Liesel, in spite, begins to steal books from the mayor’s ‘pathetic’ wife because she feels Ilsa doesn’t deserve them. However, towards the end of the novel Liesel’s relationship with Ilsa recovers, Liesel even invites Ilsa into her house for a coffee. Liesel has quite a bit of character development throughout the story, but Rosa Huberman has an even greater development throughout the tale. Rosa starts out the novel as almost abusive towards others — including her husband and foster daughter — but she eventually develops into a loving mother. At the start of the novel is constantly hitting Liesel with a wooden spoon and frequently degrades her. “… “Don’t you ‘what’ me, Saumensch. Move it.” …” and “Before she could answer, the wooden spoon came down on Liesel Meminger’s body like the gait of God.” These two examples show how Rosa was quite abusive to Liesel verbally and physically. Although Rosa seems quite abusive her kindness eventually shows when Max gets introduced into the house. She feeds him, bathes him, and takes care of him. Character development is incredibly important for novels and The Book Thief really takes advantage of it. 

Love and Morality are common themes in The Book Thief. There is almost nobody in 2022 that cannot relate to any of these themes. Love as a theme isn’t the usual love in most novels, love in The Book Thief is more in camaraderie and friendship. The relationship between Liesel and Rudy truly embodies this form of love. Liesel goes almost everywhere with Rudy; to school, to do the washing and playing soccer. One of the best examples of this friendship is how Rudy sticks by Liesel while she is stealing books from the mayor’s library, he gets no benefit from this other than to spend time with Liesel. Audiences in 2022 should be able to relate with this theme of love. Morality is also a massive theme within The Book Thief. Rudy already had a set of moral values that didn’t care for Nazi beliefs. He idolised Jesse Owens — a black man — for his sporting skills. Rudy stands up for his friends which can be seen in this example; “… That was when Rudy stepped forward. He faced Franz Deutscher, looking up at him. “He’s got a problem, sir—” …” Rudy is one of the many examples of morality in this novel. These themes a relatable for audiences in 2022 and would help make The Book Thief into the perfect television series. 

Every television series needs marvellous scenes for people to talk about. The Book Thief has many events that could be made into ‘set-pieces’. The Nazi Book burning that Liesel steals The Shoulder Shrug from could possibly be one. Picture this; a group of Nazi standing upon a stage, a massive tower of books being set alight and a vast group of Germans all surrounding this heap of burning books. This scene surely would become a lasting image in the audience’s mind. Another great scene could be when Rosa is crying whilst hugging Hans’ accordion. The moonlight shining through the window, the silhouette of Rosa holding the accordion and the strenuous silence. This scene would be forever embedded in the audience’s heart and mind. These wonderful scenes would get audiences all around the world talking. 

In conclusion, The Book Thief has an incredible potential to become a television series. Characters like Rosa; themes such as morality and scenes such as the Nazi book burning. These could all come together to create a perfect television series, for audiences in 2022 and in the future. The Book Thief could effortlessly become the number 1 television series in 2022.