Words In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

In the novel, The Book Thief, author Markus Zusak illustrates the theme that words have the potential to be more harmful than physical violence, if used in the wrong way.

Philip K. Dick, a notable author, once said “There exists, for everyone, a sentence - a series of words - that has the power to destroy you. Another sentence exists, another series of words, that could heal you. If you're lucky you will get the second, but you can be certain of getting the first.” The Book Thief explores an array of themes but none more meaningful than the power of language to heal and destroy. The novel follows the life of Liesel Meminger, who learns how much words can influence her life in minuscule ways. Learning the alphabet and creating words was one the first ways that Hans and Liesel bonded. They would sit in the basement for long hours writing words on the wall. The power of words also brought Max and Liesel together. Liesel would describe the weather to him when was trapped in the basement. Hitler used the power words to spread propaganda of racism and hatred. Ultimately, it’s Liesel’s words in her journal she leaves behind after the bombing that institutes the emotional connection Death feels to her. The power of words is the most important theme in The Book Thief.

Max describes Liesel’s use of books as a refuge in the story he leaves for her, “The Word Shaker.” In Max’s book, words are transformed into seeds, which Hitler uses to create a forest that fills people with Nazi ideology. However, Liesel grows her own tree and takes shelter in it, no one can chop it down but Max is able to climb it and take shelter with her. The story dramatises the way Liesel has used words and books to create a refuge in the midst of Nazi Germany and how she shared her refuge with Max. Also, Liesel begins using book to comfort people in the shelter by reading to them. The last lines of Liesel’s own book are “I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” This shows Liesel’s drastic development from the girl who was unable to read in front of her class, to the person who uses books to comfort her neighbours. However, books can’t protect Liesel from everything. When Liesel sees Max on his way to the concentration camp, she rips the pages out of a book in Frau Hermann’s library in rage. It is this moment that Liesel makes a connection in her mind between words and the current state of the world. Although, at the end of the novel, a book indirectly saves Liesel’s life as she was in the basement working on her own novel when the bombs fell on Himmel Street. This is the book that Death finds, and that gives Liesel her

Liesel, the book thief herself, steals books in times of pain. All six books Liesel steals are metaphors for the feelings of loss and pain during the time of which the book was stolen. She uses the books to grow knowledge of the situations occurring around her, one stolen book in particular is “The Gravedigger’s Handbook” This book is the first of all books Liesel steals, and it is the book that caused her to grow to love words, coincidently, she finds this book in the snow on the day of her brother’s death, which is when she was filled with grief and abandonment. This book is a symbol for Liesel’s grief and as she tries to learn how to read the book, her twisted comfort in the story shows how the words had a powerful effect on her grieving process shown by the quotation, “…Not to mention the morbidity of the subject. As for the girl, there was a sudden desire to read it that she didn't even attempt to understand” (Zusak, 66)

Words are everywhere, words make up books, and the power of words make The Book Thief which will never be able to be improved upon. Words help us communicate with others, but mainly they have positive and negative sides to them. In the novel, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Death narrates the story while Liesel Meminger also tells her story of living in Nazi, Germany. We will discuss how there are many people such as Max Vandenburg and Liesel Meminger who choose to use to use their power of words in the positive way. We will also discuss how people also like to use their power of words in the negative way such as Adolf Hitler. The power of words are very effective especially in Markus Zusak’s writing, and we’ll discuss the main parts of the book which have been effected with the power of words.

The book 's importance is explained through Death where ‘“The books meaning 1. The last time she saw her brother. 2. The last time she saw her mother.” Despite Liesel being illiterate, the Gravedigger’s handbook holds significant meaning for the character. Liesel has an overwhelming feeling of loss of control and acts out in rebellion to steal the book that lay beside her brothers grave. By stealing the book, she has a reminder of her small family and it stops her feeling defeated by her ever changing life, which she has no control over. This idea is then reinforced with another action of the character. Liesel then finds out that Hitler was the cause of the suffering and loss of freedom of the people she loved and knew in her life.This second act of rebellion takes place while Liesel visits a Nazi book burning. Liesel soon understands that the Nazi’s burnt books to brainwash citizens of Germany(_____). As a result of this Lisel then understands the importance and power words have, causing her to again acts rebelliously in a protest. “And it was anger and dark hatred that had fueled her desire to steal it.” This passage from the novel shows the emotions of Liesel. As a character who is unable to express herself verbally, her actions speak for her. Liesel 's desire to understand words begins to grow, with her understanding that Nazis burn books in fear of what they may do to society.

"I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right" (528.) In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, the power of words is a reoccuring theme that leads to Liesel forming a strong bond with a tall man with silver eyes, a feather haired jew, and a woman with fluffy hair that is always in a bathrobe, and changes all of their lives. Words are dangerous and beautiful, they can tear worlds apart and rebuild them, they can hurt and heal, and they are one of the most powerful forces on Earth. In The Book Thief, Liesel Meminger recognises the power of words, and rather than using them like Hitler did, out of hatred, she uses language to fight against injustice and share her thoughts. Words help Liesel connect to 3 specific people, that all change the course of her life through words. Hans Hubermann: the silver-eyed man, Ilsa Hermann: the woman with fluffy white hair, and Max Vandenburg: the feather haired jew. Liesel's story begins with Hans teaching her how to read, and gradually grows to Ilsa sharing her library, and finally, Max inspiring her to write and tell her own story.

In the beginning of the book, the first huge tragedy takes place when Liesel’s brother dies and Liesel reacts in the following manner, “Perhaps ten meters to my left, the pale, empty-stomached girl was standing, frost-stricken. Her mouth jittered. Her cold arms were folded. Tears were frozen to the book thief’s face” (Zusak, 8). In this scene where Liesel loses her brother, she’s devastated and it’s one of those scenes where you just kind of get really sad reading it.

When Liesel steals books, it is an act of defiance towards all of what society has taught her. The irony is present in how Liesel uses the words that she learns from these books. It is ironic because Hitler uses the same vocabulary and words that Liesel used in order to cause hate and cruelty amongst the Jewish people, while Liesel seemed to use her words

Liesel grew as a person, began to wonder about the world, and realized the power of words. Liesel saw the meaning in the smallest things. In the beginning of the novel, Liesel became attracted to words when she stole her first book, The Grave Digger’s Handbook from her brother’s grave site. Even without having a clue what the words meant, the book became representative of the last time she saw her family and “as for the girl, there was a sudden desire to read it that she didn't even attempt to understand” (Zusak, 66).

The most important and powerful thing in Markus Zusak's book, The Book Thief is words. Words make and break Liesel, they build her up and break her down, they are a part of her, and they bring happiness and destruction to not only her but to all people in Nazi Germany. Words can be life changing, they cantransform you into something great. “Once, words had rendered Liesel useless, but now, when she sat on the floor, with the mayors wife at her husband's desk,she felt an innate sense of power.” (147).

The book that Liesel got started her interest in books, and it is shown when: “The book thief had struck for the first time- the beginning of illustrious career” (Zusak and White 29). After Liesel steals her first book, she is content, but her decision changes easily. Liesel does not want any perfectly book to be extirpated, so she quickly steals then from Jewish book burnings. The Grave Digger’s Handbook also reminds Liesel of her dead family. The book was the last object that Liesel saw before seeing her family alive for the last time, and she kept the book to make sure that she never forgets them. Also, when Liesel looks at the book, she sees her family, and that provides Liesel with another reason to keep the book. The Grave Digger’s Handbook started Liesel’s life of thievery, and it reminds her of her deceased

Words are more influential than thought. Words can have such a powerful impact on how you interpret things, how you feel, and how you can make others feel as well. The word choice used in The Book Thief demonstrates many themes throughout such as death, friendship, guilt, reason, and the struggle between ones inner self and the society in which he is surrounded. As complex as this may sound, the method was used in a simplistic fashion to construct the meaning and details of certain situations through the senses that ultimately capture how the characters take in the world around them. The power of words in the novel The Book Thief is used to control individuals and gain power if rooted from bad intentions; however, the power of words also

The developmental stage of a young child’s life is very crucial and can be impacted by the media. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Liesel Meminger is a young girl living in a very important part of Germany’s history, the Second World War. Liesel’s childhood unfolds and develops against the backdrop of a time when words, books specifically were used for power and control. Liesel is someone who has a love for reading and, as such, books become very important to her, not only for her education but for her rebellion and discovering her true identity. Throughout the novel, books become a crucial symbol used to convey the desires and discovery of identity for the main character as her childish ignorance changes to her mature adulthood.

She reads a book she finds on the floor and has pensive thoughts about the people that died in her life and how she will no longer hope for Max and Alex Steiner because the world does not deserve them and she even thinks that words are no good. She even says, without words, the Führer is nothing. She ends up ripping up the book but immediately writing a letter to apologise to Ilsa. Ilsa, having read the letter sees that Liesel is good at writing so she gives her lined paper. Liesel uses the lined paper and starts to write a book called the book thief. Liesel continues to write the story of her life and finishes it in October.