Power Of Words In The Book Theif By Markus Zusak

The Power of Words

Surprisingly, the bible is the most common book to steal, even though the Bible is accessible and free in many places. However, didn’t god state in the Tenth Commandment to never steal? In The Book Theif, by Markus Zusak, the author uses death as a narrator to communicate themes throughout the story. One of the possible themes is the power of words.

The past trauma that Liesel dealt with haunts her current self. She is unable to speak out, but this instead makes even more noise. At the beginning of the novel, Liesel would wake up from a nightmare to find her brother’s bed dead and empty,” She would wake up swimming in her bed, screaming, and drowning in the flood of sheets. On the other side of the room, the bed that was meant for her brother floated boatlike in the darkness. Slowly, with the arrival of consciousness, it sank, seemingly into the floor” (Zusak 27.) Liesel is unable to speak about her past trauma. She stays silent about her loss and therefore making it harder for her to cope with

In The Word Shaker, a young girl stands up to an oppressive force with words: “She boarded the tree, and even as the Führer hammered at the trunk with his ax, she climbed until she reached the highest of the branches. The voices and ax beats continued faintly on. Clouds walked by—like white monsters with gray hearts. Afraid but stubborn, the word shaker remained. She waited for the tree to fall”(Zusak 303.) The little girl in the story demonstrated the power of words and their uses in good and evil. She waited for the tree to fall, but it does not. This symbolizes her willingness to change the world through words. The Word Shaker demonstrates the relentless pursuit of words being used for good and empathy. This is indicative of how powerful words can be. It reminds us that speech can shape society and have the influence to change literature and