The Book Thief Power Of Words Essay

Within every human being, through affirmation and recognition by others, one’s worth and value, a sense of belonging is formed. This concept is the main theme within the text, The Book Thief (2005) written by Markus Zusak. The main character, Liesel Meminger, is abandoned by her mother at the age of ten (10) she then spends the next few years finding where she belongs in the world. Throughout the novel Liesel's sense of belonging to the characters Hans Hubermann, Max Vandenburg and Adolf Hitler; the Fuhrer, result in shaping and influence her to view the world differently. This essay will be examining Liesel’s sense of belonging with each of these characters and their effect on her personality, views and ideas.

Death states that, “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both” (Zusak 491). This book shows us human doing things that weren’t even imaginable before this point. Many people give into ideas that were lies. But, we also watch a few people go out of their way and sacrifice everything for a man they barely even know. They do everything they can to keep him safe and alive. They work harder, the get another job, and they even steal. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, death examines the ugliness and the beauty of humans.

Through all of the irony and vivid coloring, The Book Thief is more easily understood after acquiring knowledge of reading literature with greater care and meticulousness. Applying chapters of How to Read Literature like a Professor can better enhance a reader’s awareness of hidden messages and symbols within certain works of literature. In Chapter Two, Foster explains how meals suggest a communion between all parties involved in it. Markus Zusak also uses meals and food to bring families together in The Book Thief. Foster also explains, in Chapter Eleven, how violence in literature usually stands for more than just violence.

The film and novel both use words to cause emotions of viewers and readers. An example of the powerful use of words in the film is towards the end when Liesel finds Rudy dying on the road covered with gravel; Rudy is about to say “I love you” (Percival), but doesn’t finish his sentence before death takes him. It’s hard as a viewer to watch such a heart-breaking scene. Liesel knows what Rudy is going to say and his words from then and all he’s said to her in the past influenced her to kiss him.Readers no longer had to imagine any of the events or characters in the novel because it was in front of them on a screen. Unlike the movie, in the novel, Hans Jr tells his father to join the Nazi’s. Hans Jr tells Hans, “You’re either for the fuhrer or against him-and I can see that you’re against him”(105). When Hans Jr and Hans get into an argument about the Nazi

“The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn't be any of this. Without words, the Führer was nothing.” (Markus Zusak, page 242). At this moment, Liesel was so angry at the words that she tore up a book. She started to realize how much of an effect they can have in the world. Words are a pretty powerful weapon. They can be destructive or productive. Most of the times words are used in The Book Thief, they’re destructive. A good example of this is how Hitler, the Führer, used his words to make everyone dislike the Jews. This grew on and on and led to a big massacre of Jews in Germany. In the novel The Book Thief , the characters Liesel, Hans, and Rudy all inquire a positive and negative impact of words.

“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble” (Berg, Huffington Post). In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, a love for the words was able to affect the situation for the better, but also for the worse. We must understand the power of words.

Liesel Meminger, who was a very sympathetic young girl which her words were used from her warm heart towards people. Frau Holtzapfel had lost both of her sons, so for her to be happy, Liesel would read to her a lot, which also made Frau Holtzapfel feel comforted. Also when Max was taken in by the Hubermann’s, he was a Jew, which meant he wasn’t allowed to see the outside world. Liesel would go outside and tell Max the

In the past few weeks, we have been reading the book, the Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The book tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a girl from Germany in the time of the Holocaust. The book starts with her as a nine year old, and progresses through her life until she is an old lady. The story details the life of this woman through these times. And in the story, her priorities are reading and learning. She steals books like The Grave Digger’s Handbook and The Shoulder Shrug, but one book which has negative influence was the book made by the Nazi Leader, Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). Hitler wrote the autobiographical book, which was spread around the Germans, who were brainwashed by the propaganda. The Mein Kampf influenced these citizens, but was the influence good? The book created nothing but negativity. There are three examples which are strong showings to prove the influence of the Führer caused nothing but hatred. Those three are Hans Junior, Max, and the entire population of the Jews. Those three personas were effected in a way which caused nothing but hurt to people.

explores her love of books and her thrive to steal she is acquainted with a Jew, who comes to

Words: Words are something we use everyday to communicate. Words make up sentences and books. We use words to convey meanings, to show feelings, and to communicate. The problem is that most people take this for granted. Most people do not know the power their words have, and the effect they have on other people. The power of words holds a strong meaning in the novel, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. During the book, different characters acquire power through their words and language, in both positive and negative ways.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak shows through the midst of brutality, beauty can still be shown. The main characters Liesel Meminger, Rudy Steiner and Hans Huberman, prove this statement they are all faced with perilous situations, but still manage to show beauty throughout the situations. Liesel Meminger display beauty during the air raids, as she manages to read to people in the basement. Rudy Steiner displays beauty he jumps in the river to get Liesel’s book. Through Hans Huberman nobel character he displays beauty as he risks his life to hide a Jewish man in his basement.

When there were bomb raids approaching the town, the people gathered in a small basement and Liesel began to read to everyone there. It is amazing how her words would calm everyone present and made them forget that they could possibly die at any given moment. When everything in her life is at a downfall, reading and writing takes Liesel out of this cruel world. That is the main reason why she is attracted to words and books. Words kept her alive in a dull world but also literally kept her living. She was reading in that basement when the bombs hit her street so it saved her. She also developed relationships with people with words and storytelling. In a time like this, a normal conversation will not help. But in order to distract one from reality the best way to do that is to share stories. Max Vandenburg is not in great condition when he arrives, but creates a special bond with Liesel through words. The two have frequent nightmares about their past and losing the ones that they care about the most. Though all this has happened, they both enjoy to story tell and that’s how their bond grows. "Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out, like the rain (85)". Liesel’s words effected her situation and the perspective of it so much. As words bought friendship to Liesel, it also bought

After losing her mother and her brother, Liesel’s life and identity is changed drastically many times. It is through books that she discovers and becomes comfortable with this change. When she first meets Hans and Rosa Hubermann, her new foster parents, she does not wish to speak with them or get to know them. However, once Hans discovers Liesel with the book she stole when her brother was buried, The Gravedigger’s Manual, they bond over Hans teaching Liesel to read. Liesle describes the first time her and Hans have a lesson in the middle of the night: “She had done this at school, in the kindergarten class, but this time was better. … It was nice to watch Papa’s hand as he wrote the words and slowly constructed the primitive sketches” (Zusak

Words can influence the mind in many ways that thought may not be able to. They are carefully placed and shared in different ways by each and every individual. Words have powerful impacts and can majorly impact how one may think, feel, or even lead others to feel. Written by Markus Zusak, “The Book Thief” describes a story of an innocent foster girl, Liesel Meminger, who resides in Munich, Germany at one of the most troubling time periods in history, Nazi Germany. A tale narrated by the one and only Death himself, shows the perspective from his point of view, as well as others, describing how Liesel had been seized away from her birth mother at a young age, and put into a foster family. Her new family, the Hubermanns. As she matures and grows into a more critical thinker, understanding and analyzing everything that carefully happens around her. Her foster-father, Hans guides her and teaches her how to read, which little does she know sparks her journey, the art of stealing books. Liesel soon discovers that words aren 't simply lines on a page, they are strong emotions packed into a form that merely is held in her delicate hands. Not only did she hold the pages of emotion, she held a power, a dangerous weapon of words, a weapon of control, and every book that she had stolen was giving her unimaginable power that made her think in ways that she would’ve never thought she could have. As with Nazi propaganda, and a gift that enabled her to broaden her worldview. Liesel evolves

Hans is a passionate, caring man who earns his living as a house painter by day and an accordion player by night. Liesel believes his eyes show kindness, and is closer to him from the beginning than to her foster mother. He is one of a few in their village who is not a registered member of the Nazi party, which comes to have serious repercussions on the family as the book progresses. Rosa Hubermann is a stern, strong woman who looks like a “wardrobe with a coat thrown over it” and would be “cute,” but appears perpetually annoyed. She peppers her language with epithets like “Saumensch” and “Saukerl” and “Arschloch”. “Sau” refers to “pig” and mensch is girl and kerl is man, arschloch sounds pretty close to its English equivalent. From the beginning Liesel is “saumensch,” which at first refers to Rosa’s annoyance at taking this girl in, even though it does mean more money for the family. But by the end, it has become a term of true endearment. Liesel’s best friend in the village is a little boy named Rudy, “the boy next door who was obsessed with the black American athlete Jesse Owens.” Rudy is in love with Liesel and always pesters her for a kiss, which he does finally receive, after some pretty serious turns in the story. He is a simple, almost naïve boy, and would do almost anything for her, including jumping into a nearly