Book Thief Response #3
February 6, 2010What is the significance of the color yellow (so far, at least)?
Remember that quotes are needed to prove your point is correct. It’s fine if your evidence isn’t from Part 3.
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Well in my opinion yellow is somewhat an innocent color. I read a little bit ahead and there is once quote that backs me up. It says, “so yellow and tanquil” (188). It gives the idea that Death finds the color somewhat peaceful which is true in real life too because I have never seen the color yellow used negativly because when most people think of yellow they first think of the sun and happiness.
I disagree with Kali’s idea that yellow is an innocent color. In the middle of Part One it states “The Last Stop. The road of yellow stars” (51). This is talking about the Star of David painted on all the Jews doors. They’re described as “infected sores on the injured German terrain” (51). I think this portrays the color yellow as being an unsafe and unliked color, for it represents a Jew.
Kali I can see where you get the idea of yellow as being an innocent color but I have to disagree with you about Death’s idea of yellow being peaceful. I have to say that Death sees it as an unjust color. In Part 3 Death says “A small Tribute to Arthur Berg, A still living man The cologne sky was yellow and rotting, flanking at the edges. He sat propped against a wall with a child in his arms. His sister” (166). This shows how Death could perceive the color yellow as an unfair color because he had to take a young girl’s soul and no one would ever want to do that, even if they were Death. The only thing I do not understand is the yellow tear in part 2, does anyone else?
Interesting ideas, both of you. Remember that Death’s idea of yellow isn’t necessarily what the significance is. Communicating the significance of the color is the author’s role, not the narrator.
Kathryn, I agree with your observation of the yellow stars representing Jews. I also do not quite think yellow represents innocence or peace since yellow seems to show up whenever something unfortunate is happening. For example, like the subject Nicole brought up, when Liesel is being beaten by Mama, she cries a yellow tear and, “There was a pulse and yellow light, all together”(99). Liesel thinks she sees a yellow light, but she later struggles to see the yellow light, for she feels surrounded by darkness. Also, Papa’s music used to seem like a light color to Liesel, but after she was beaten by Mama she thinks, “Even Papa’s music was the color of darkness…the dark, the light… What was the difference?”(100). Yellow may represent hope, which was lost with the Jews and with Liesel.
I feel that the color yellow has two very different significances in the book. Yellow is portrayed as a disliked and unwanted color by the country of Germany in general, like Kathryn said by representing yellow as Jews. Hitler forces the citizens of Germany to view the Jews as dangerous and like animals. As a result all of the Germans viewed the Jews as unsafe people. On the other hand i feel that yellow also has a somewhat innocent significance because it seems that Mark Zusak leads the reader to view yellow as harmless, even though the poeple of Germany think the opposite. Markus Zusak describes many other people using the color. For example in Part 1 he describes Rudy “and the hair the color a lemon.” In addition he associates Liesel with the yellow, when he states ” No matter how many times she tried to imagine the scene with the yellow light that she knew had been there, she had tried to struggle to visualize it. To her they were only victims of circumstance, The only thought that continually recurred was the yellow tear, had it been dark, she realized the tear would have been black.”
I agree with Nikki that the color yellow comes up whenever something bad happens. It is a recurring color in the book and represents unfortunate events. In part three Death says, “The Cologne sky was yellow and rotting, flaking at the edges. He sat propped against a wall with a child in his arms. His sister”(166). Death is speaking of Arthur Berg’s death which was unfortunate and sad. Yellow is not a color that one wants to see while reading The Book Thief because of the events that come along with this color.
I agree with Nikki, as yellow is associated with jews and that for that reason germany views it as a negative color. But, the author wants the reader to think of positive things when the color of yellow is brought up. An example of this is when death says, “Of those ten, six were stolen, one showed up at the kitchen table, two were made for her by a hidden jew, and one was delivered by a soft, yellow-dressed afternoon” (30). This shows that the color yellow is meant to be perceived in a good light. This connects as well, because light is commonly thought of as being yellow. Another connection is that light is related to knowledge, which is what Liesel acquires through her thievery. Death puts yellow at the positive end of the spectrum in this book, unless viewed from germany’s point of view.
I definitely agree with Kali and Shane. I think that the author wants yellow to be shown as innocent. However, if you look at it from Germnay’s point of view, as Shane said, yellow can seem as evil. An example is on page ninety-nine when Liesel uses her mom’s money to mail a letter to her real mom and is beaten. “There was a pulse and yellow light altogether”. The yellow light, although coming at a time of despair, can show Liesel’s innocence. However, coming from Germany’s point of view, tyring to contact a communist with someone elses money would be looked upon with disgust. Markus Zusak describes yellow as innocent, while Germany sees it as evil.
I agree with Wesley’s idea that the author may be using the color yellow to symbolize different themes and emotions simultaneously. By using the color yellow as a motif throughout the novel, Marcus Zusak is able to use imagery to portray the color in a negative light as well as a positive light. When the color yellow is meant to describe something grotesque, or even a scene involving death, the color is describes as disturbing and sad. As Madison earlier pointed out, Death describes the sky and states, “The Cologne sky was yellow and rotting, flaking at the edges. He sat propped against a wall with a child in his arms. His sister”(166). This representation of yellow as a sallower, desperate color is able to let the reader recognize the rotting sky that is so comparable to the man’s sister, slowly dying, slowly rotting right along with the sky’s morbid disposition. The yellow color is able to describe death due to the author’s parallel to the undesirable sky color. While yellow is demonstrated as a morbid color, it is also used by young Rudy in his description of Liesel’s hair color, which he states is the “color of lemons”. When Rudy uses such an amiable expression to describe the color of his friend’s hair, he is demonstrating his relationship with Liesel and showing that yellow has an amiable connotation. But what is the factor that causes Marcus Zusak to vary his use of symbol? My guess is that when used with youth and health, the color yellow is given a vibrant description, as opposed to the color’s description of death which is gruesome and often depressing. What does the color yellow have to do with the holocaust and death? And why would the author choose yellow to parallel life and death, if this hypothesis is correct…?
Yeah…My name is Christine not Tnpwr1228, I accidentally wrote my email into the name I guess, just to clarify, sorry 🙂
Although most people might think the color yellow has a negative connotation, yellow can also be viewed as a safe, comforting color. As Kathryn and others have said that yellow represents the jewish stars and how it is considered unsafe and negative, the color yellow is safe to non-jews. Back then, having blond(yellow)hair meant you didn’t have to worry about being persecuted(well you needed blue eyes also, but still)because Hitler considered it traits necessary for a perfect Aryan race. For example, since Rudy had “hair the color of a lemon”(48)it would be doubtful he would be persecuted.
Based on previous arguments and evidence from the text and I think the color yellow symbolizes opposing forces in “The Book Thief”.One force being the protagonists, the pure race, Germans. A master race with no flaws or fears during the time period. Any individual with blue eyes and blonde hair is in the safe zone, this can be depicted by Rudy’s father’s comment after the Jesse Owens incident, “I know son-but you’ve got beautiful blond hair and big, safe blue eyes. You should be happy with that;is that clear?” (51). The oponent being Jewish people. Their yellow, star of David exploits their danger and insecurity in society. Yellow represents the victims and opressors battle in humanity, a survival of the fittest.
I think that Ashley has a really good point. Although I can see why people would give the color yellow a negative connotation, the authors usage of yellow in certain circumstances particularly when describing the color of Rudy’s hair. Also the yellow stars would not have been seen as bad to the people to whom the stars belonged to. To them, the color yellow might have been seen as comforting. Also, Rudy is at a very great advantage because his hair is “the color of a lemon”(48). When Rudy tells his Mr. Stiner that he wants to be just like Jesse Owens, Mr. Stiner tells him other wise. He argues that you shouldn’t want to be like black people of Jewish People. Rudy cannot really understand what his father means by this, but his father further explains that he should be happy with his “beautiful blond hair and big safe blue eyes”(Page 61). This leads me to believe that the color yellow is the color of safety for the non-Jewish people, but the color yellow might be a safety to one group of people (the non-Jews) and the color of insecurity and fear to another group of people (the Jewish people.
Although I can see why people would give the color yellow a negative connotation, the authors usage of yellow in certain circumstances particularly when describing the color of Rudy’s hair, leaves a positive connotation of the color.**
I agree with Kali’s idea that yellow has certain positive connotations, however, not those of innocence and happiness. What i have noticed in my reading is that yellow often appears in the scenes of relief, and can be interpreted as aid to the characters during their difficult times. For example: when Liesel and Rudy steal from Otto, they eat eggs to relieve their hunger (yellow), when Max shows up to 33 Himmel Street, he has a key to relieve him from his struggle thus far (yellow), Mr. Steiner points out to Rudy that his yellow hair will keep him safe. Yellow is consistently proving to be a color that appears when the characters are at odds and have a saving grace, however minor it may be.
Jenny brings up a very good point. ;)I agree that yellow symbolizes safety for the German non-Jews because of the safe hair that is “the color of a lemon” (48) that everyone has pointed out. For the German Jews yellow exploits them and sets them apart from the rest of the country because their stores and houses were painted with yellow stars. The Jew’s section of town was referred to as the road of yellow stars and Death describes it as “a place nobody wanted to stay and look at, but almost everyone did” (51). It represented anti-Semitic ideas and the Jews that the Germans were supposed to hate.
p.s. i like the smileys 🙂 😉 😦 😀 😛 :*
I disagree with Jenn and Ashley because there is no way the color yellow can be comforting to the Jewish people. The yellow star identifies them as the targets of the yellow haired Germans so basically everything going against the Jews is yellow. Yellow could be seen as the opposition that the Jews have to overcome which is what Megan said. A tear generally shows sadness or something bad, so the fact that the tear is yellow shows that the color yellow is the cause of the sadness. The Jews want to get rid of the color yellow, not embrace it as a sign of hope.
oh wait Jenn and Ashley said non-Jews my bad.
I disagree with yellow being considered an innocent color when used in “The Book Thief”. In general yellow is displayed as a happy color that is always positive. In “The Book Thief” the color yellow is portrayed negatively especially when stated, “The Cologne sky was yellow and rotting, flaking at the edges” (166). This proves that the color yellow shows sorrow because the author goes on to talk about death. I agree with Mike when he says that it shows a sign of no hope which can easily be connected to the Jews. The color yellow is surprisingly unfortunate when seen in this book because the feeling of sorrow emerges.
I diagree that yellow is comforting. However, I believe that it sybolizes mystery which could be comforting sometimes. For example, although not comforting, the yellow stars on the doors of the Jews could show that they weren’t accepted because they were misunderstood. When it is said,“Of those ten, six were stolen, one showed up at the kitchen table, two were made for her by a hidden jew, and one was delivered by a soft, yellow-dressed afternoon,” (30) there is a feeling of uncertainty. Everytime the color yellow appears something is in question.
I believe that, like almost everyone else, yellow is a color of saftey. it also represents Germany. When you see a German man or women you think of a yellow haired being. But first you think of cruel and unthoughtful human beings. The color yellow reflects the cruel and unthoughtful ways of the Germans. In part two when Rosa beat Leisel with the wooden spoon, a yellow tear rolls down her cheek. She reflects, “Had it been dark, she realized, that tear would have been black.” She continues to ponder, “But it was dark, she told herself” (pg 100). This shows that her yellow tear is representing the darkness and the cruelty.
I agree that yellow is a safe, comforting color for non-Jews, as it is mentioned in association with Rudy. However I also agree with Rachael that there is always an unanswered question involved when the color yellow is mentioned in The Book Thief. Furthermore, I disagree with Tracey that the yellow tear represents darkness, when in fact it represents light. She can’t picture the light anymore because is upset over the news of her mother, which is what she was crying about in the first place.
As I was reading this I realized something… When Liesel says “the dark, the light… What was the difference?” could you compare that to questioning the difference between the the Germans and the Jews?