LINGERING SHADOWS AND APPROXIMATE GRIEF: A HAUNTOLOGICAL READING OF TRAUMA, LOSS AND ESCAPE IN ZUSAK’S THE BOOK THIEF

Abstract

This study evaluates The Book Thief (2005) by Markus Zusak through the lens of Jacques Derrida's hauntology. The research examines how the traumatic past is affecting the present as a ghost. It depicts the infrahumanized treatment of people, especially the Jews and the Germans under the control of Adolf Hitler. It portrays books as invisible companions that provide a reading cure for traumatized people. It clarifies the duality of literature as solace for some and a means of control for others, as in Liesel and Adolf Hitler.  The novel’s protagonist, a 9-year-old girl, embodies the traumatic effects of situations on childhood, shaping their identity and a transformation of a young girl afraid of nightmares, converting into the woman who is living while accepting and surviving all the losses she faced in losing her beloved ones, but still appears to be a mature woman living his life in Australia. It employs a qualitative approach, highlighting the characters' struggles, the ruler’s oppression, survival during the holocaust, the atmosphere during WWII, and the experiences of the sufferers during these times. The methodology highlights the ghostly appearances of the lingering past in the present and its unvarnished effects on the upcoming future. Its critical analysis highlights all the traumatic past, the reading cure, and the inhumane treatment of people. This research contributes to the holocaust literature, trauma studies, German history in the context of WWII, and holocaust and narratology.