https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a Abby Roevens en-us 2018-03-15 18:31:10 UTC 2025-10-10 17:29:35 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Brightnessdown.png abigail_roevens https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a/wish/242544228 Yellow symbolizes the Jews through the images of the Star of David and the color of the sky during the mass killings. Yellow Stars of David were painted on the outside of businesses and houses of the Jews. When the mass killings of Jews peaked, Death described the sky as looking yellow; “Summer Came...For me, the sky was the color of Jews...When their fingernails had scratched at the wood and in some cases were nailed into it by the sheer force of desperation, their spirits came towards me...we climbed out of those shower facilities." (Zusak, 349). From the burning of the Jews’ corpse in the death camps, yellow, the symbolic color of Jews, filled the sky. Contradictory to the perfect blue sky, the yellow sky disrupts the beautiful day and humanity and the feeling of safety is no longer present. ]]> 2018-03-15 18:34:37 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a/wish/242544228 abigail_roevens https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a/wish/242580797 The color black symbolizes death, the terror of the Nazi regime, and darkness. When Death takes the life of an English speaking pilot that landed in Molching moments after Rudy confronts the dying enemy, Death again describes the color changing sky; “Above me, the sky eclipsed -- just a last moment of darkness and I swear I could see a black signature of a swastika. It loitered untidily above" (Zusak 491). Death depicts the imagery of black swastika to show the connection between the Nazi regime, death, and darkness. Black is the color of pure evil and absence of life. ]]> 2018-03-15 19:57:44 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a/wish/242580797 abigail_roevens https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a/wish/242580980 The color red is symbolic of the Nazi Flag, violence, destruction, and bloodshed. Death describes the third time he saw Liesel after the bombing of Himmel Street as being red; “The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places it was burned. There were black crumbs and pepper, streaked across the redness” (Zusak 12). Liesel survived the bombing that killed her closest friends and destroyed everything she had. 

]]> 2018-03-15 19:58:19 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a/wish/242580980 abigail_roevens https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a/wish/242581007 The color white is very prominent in the beginning of Liesel’s story. White symbolizes her brother cold, bloodless, winter death and the breaking of hearts. Liesel and her mother buried Liesel’s brother Werner in the frozen ground covered in snow. Although this is the most obvious example of white being used as a symbolic motif, the color’s importance resurfaces in the description of Frau Diller’s candy shop; “Frau Diller was a sharp-edged woman… The shop itself was white and cold, and completely bloodless.” Liesel’s encounter with Frau Diller’s candy shop was her first real sign of Hitler's influence. Frau's attitude and treatment of her customers is the first sign of a loss of respect and empathy towards Jews their human dignity. 

]]> 2018-03-15 19:58:26 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a/wish/242581007 abigail_roevens https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a/wish/243310062 The color blue symbolizes the importance of people’s genetics and physical appearance during World War II. Both blue and blonde have the similar meaning of safety. In the beginning of the novel, Rudy gets upset with the Nazi party’s ideals and his father confronts him with the reality of what his appearance means, “‘ "I know, son--but you've got beautiful blonde hair and big, blue eyes. You should be happy with that; is that clear?"’(Zusak 61). Having blue eye was considered a dominant trait in Hitler's opinion. Blue eyes keep people safe from persecution and death. Additionally, the color blue represents the skies. A blonde sun shining in blue skies illustrates a perfect day just as blue eyes represent a perfect race. Liesel dies of old age on a day that death describes has a “best of blue” sky. 

]]> 2018-03-19 03:08:13 UTC https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a/wish/243310062 abigail_roevens https://padlet.com/abigail_roevens/vyvk1i1csw5a/wish/243310154 The color blonde symbolizes hope, the color of the sun and the color of the preferred hair color in Europe during World War II. Just as blue is safe for eyes, blonde is safe for hair. The combination of the blue sky and the blonde sun create the perfect analogy for Hitler's ideals. When Death was tirelessly working because of the mass killings happening in the concentration camps, he too tired to imagine a perfect day to distract him; “Sometimes I imagined how everything looked above those clouds, knowing without question that the sun was blond, and the endless atmosphere was a giant blue eye" (Zusak 350). Through the imagery Death illustrates, the blond sun and blue sky is also a symbol for hope. 

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