Words can be as powerful as any weapon. They have the power to spread ideas, yet that power can be dangerous. They have the ability to hinder, help, and heal someone. Depending on who is saying something, and how they say it, it affects people differently. During World War II, Hitler used his power to influence people with fear and hope to do dehumanize the Jews. Throughout The Book Thief, Markus Zusak uses cacophonous diction, imagery, and the third person point of view to relay the power of words which creates a sympathetic and frightened nature, that exposes the hardships that people face during the Holocaust. The power of words can give a character two different faces, which brings them together by their similarities or pulls them apart …show more content…
The “Germans loved burning books” (84) to keep people away from certain ideas, as if those ideas would spread like an infection. They feared those ideas, like the one in the book Liesel steals that a Jew could be a hero, because they could undermine the Nazi ideology and therefore the party’s control over Germany. As Max “cut out a collection of pages from Mein Kampf and painted over them in white” (223) this exemplifies that bad can be turned into good. Something that was once used to spread hate, is now bringing joy to Liesel. Death says that a Jews “face was flattened against the road” and that “the ache in his arms was unbearable to watch as they shook”(393), they were mentally and physically exhausted because of the overwhelming constant fear. They were scared to show their weaknesses because of an excessive power by the Nazi …show more content…
Death has carried around Liesel’s book, and her words, “so damning and brilliant” that have given him a new view of the human race, “so ugly and so glorious” (550). Death notes that though he serves villains and disasters, there are moments and stories he allows to distract him, and The Book Thief is one of those stories. For Liesel, even as the words took her mother away from her, endangered her best friend, and isolated her when they were beyond her grasp, words were what connected her to the people she loved. Words were powerful enough to literally save her, in the end. The Jews knew “they could not be saved” and for one man’s sake, “just give him five more minutes and he would surely fall into the German gutter and die”(393). This event gives a suspenseful feeling to the reader to create sympathy for the people in harm’s way experiencing harsh predicaments. Not only were the Jews sacred so were the Germans. Hans was whipped for giving a man a tiny piece of bread. This fear instilled with the people is very prominent, making others not want to stand up and use their voices. Death has feelings because he so baldy wished he could have said “Im sorry child”, but he couldn't because “it was not allowed” (13). The fact that death cannot express himself, yet has to constantly experience sorrow creates a sympathetic effect. It makes the reader feel bad for him because
Markus Zusak’s novel The Book Thief depicts the life of a certain young German girl named Liesel Meminger during World War II. Her story was told through the eyes of Death, who narrates both the blessings and devastation that occurred during that era. Liesel experiences living with her new foster parents and come across a boy named Rudy Steider who will later on become her best friend. As the story unfolds, Liesel gradually discovers the horrifying truth behind the Nazi regime as her foster parents take refuge of a Jewish man. Despite being in the midst of destruction and recently coping from her traumatic background, she undertakes on a journey of self-discovery and
“I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” (Zusak 528) Words and the power they possess is a common theme that is heavily mentioned throughout the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Throughout this book, rhetoric affects multiple characters in both positive and negative ways. There are instances in this book in which one can see how words have the ability to tear people down, educate and inform, and to inspire individuals to follow their dreams.
In the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak the narrator is Death, who shows itself as sympathetic and sensitive towards the suffering of the world and the cruel human nature, through its eyes, we can get to know the heartbreaking story of Liesel Meminger an ordinary, but very lucky nine-year old German girl; living in the midst of World War II in Germany. In this book the author provides a different insight and observation about humanity during this time period from a German view and not an Allied perspective, as we are used to.
The irony behind Liesel stealing books is that, Ilsa Hermann, the mayor’s wife intentionally leaves the window unlocked for her to climb in and take books while Liesel is oblivious to what Ilsa is doing. Ilsa allows Liesel to use her expansive library because if Liesel does not take and read the books they would just sit on the shelf wasting away. “Lately it’s you that gets the most use out of this room.” (Zusak 461) Another point of irony in Liesel stealing books is that while many people are starving for food Liesel is starving for words. Hitler builds the foundation of his mind-controlled country on poisonous manipulative words and
The night of May 10, 1933, German students from some of the best universities in the world, gathered in Berlin to burn books with un-German ideas. The students, along with Nazi officials, threw hundreds of books into a bonfire while giving the Hitler salute and singing Nazi anthems. The students gave up everything that they had believed in due to their unwavering adoration for Hitler and his beliefs.
Many characters in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak develop an understanding of the strength of power words possess throughout the book which causes them to be undesirably affected.
Words have the power to affect people in many ways from empowerment or to taking upon action. Words are able to make huge changes in the lives of many and can make good or bad changes. In history, people used words in both good and bad function from making a promise to a nation or even manipulating multitudes of people within a nation. Words definitely have the ability to take situations a far distance but despite the fact that evil can manipulate the majority of people, individuals too can realize the true actions and evil buried inside the perpetrator. People can be both ugly and beautiful at sometimes with weapons along their sides. A novel called The Book Thief illustrates the power of words in a multitude of ways, showing the potential
One may wonder since in The Book Thief many characters are negatively impacted by the power of words if many characters are positively impacted by the power of words. The power of words can influence what people believe and the actions people make. Liesel, Hans and Rudy are characters that are negatively impacted by the power of words.
In the Book Thief, both Liesel and Hans have very altruistic personalities. When the Jew’s march through Himmel Street to get to Dachau, everyone knows where they are going. They watch them march by, walking around them and staring. 75 percent of Hungary’s 600,000 Jews were killed by the Nazis, and only a few brave people tried to save just one Jew. (We Are All Bystanders page 4) These people risked their lives to shelter Jews, much like Rosa and Hans Hubermann. As the Jews march to Dachau, and the residents of Himmel Street stand and watch the Jews marching towards their death at the concentration camps, Death writes, “The book thief could do nothing but watch them back in a long, incurable moment before they were gone again. She could only hope they could read the depth of sorrow in her face, to recognize that it was true, and not fleeting.” ( ) Liesel feels helpless, like she can’t do anything. She longs to call out to them and help but knows that it would be worthless. A few minutes later, however, Papa takes action. Papa quickly grabs something from his paint cart and helps an old man who was struggling to walk and gives him some bread. Papa took action when no one else would. Papa pays the consequence, but in that moment, Papa displayed moral courage. Papa’s selfless personality let him reach out to help the man, even
In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief the protagonist, Liesel Meminger is trying to outlive the harsh reality that’s produced by the war. Liesel Meminger and several other characters attempt to cope with the stress around them, and aid each other along the way. In this novel, the power of words is an important element. There are also several situations that illustrate acts of love between the characters.
Once the Nazis attacked the libraries and bookstores across Germany, at night, they would march in parades, sing changes, and throw books into huge bonfires. On that night, more than 25,000 books were burned. Liesel and many others witnessed the burning of the books. “A couple of times, Liesel was a witness to men and women knocking on doors, asking people if they had any material that they felt should be done away with or destroyed” (Markus Zusak, Pg. 101). The.
The Holocaust is marked as one of the most horrifying events of the 20th century.The person who was responsible for the Holocaust was Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party. The question is, how, and why was Hitler able to do this? The actual truth behind all this is that, Hitler could make the world his, just by using words. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, it tells a story about a young girl growing up when Nazi Germany was invincible. The author explores some very meaningful, yet, controversial themes for the most part of the novel. Out of all themes, he believes that words hold a remarkable power. He explores how words manipulate, divide, and connect people.
Death is a very well-known figure that is feared by many in all countries. He is suspected of being cruel, disturbing and all synonyms of horrifying. Death is inevitable and that is the most fearing aspect of his persona. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Death is made to seem or resemble humans. Effectively using the narration role, Death introduces a unique description and definition of colors in which he uses as a tool to effectively engage the readers to the events occurring throughout the book. He also demonstrates him personal and different experiences as well, mostly about soul gathering and the implications of WWII that have affected him. On the contrary to Death’s dead, appalling and scary nature that many interpret him to be during the book, Death shows many emotions and features to his personality that reasoning would declare otherwise. One of those feature would be the colors.
We watch death explore the beauty and ugliness of the human race in Markus Zusak’s book The Book Thief. We watch as Liesel, Hans, and Rosa do everything they can to help out a group of people who were treated with such disrespect during this time period. This group, the Jews, were beaten for taking food that was given to them, and when they died no one would even care. But, these few people gave them food, a place to hide, a sense of belonging, and and a reason to live. They have to work day and night, and do everything they can. Even though people aren’t so beautiful at all times, there is still hope. As we have learned in this book that even when 99 percent of humans aren’t so marvelous there is still that one percent that is to delightful that it would touch anyones heart.
Words have been the only constant throughout history; the one thing that has tied men and women from different time periods and different cultures. The greatest and most inspiring people have all used words to plant the seeds of something new; on the other hand, it is not a well-kept secret. Dictators and undeserving leaders know the power of words. Markus Zusak tried to share to the world how powerful one word could be. One word could spark friendship while many words could transcend into hatred. While words can impact different messages to different people, each one is inevitably connected to the next. A word that has power receives its power from the influence it collects from the people who choose to listen; the words can either hurt or heal the audience and the outcome is reflected in the influence.