ipl-logo

Powerful Words In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

551 Words3 Pages

“I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant”(Zusak 550). In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak introduces that words have power and the ability to be beautiful, and ruthless. The Book Thief demonstrates that in words there are forms of solace, forms of brutality, and escapes to freedom. (To begin with,) As seen through The Book Thief, words have the ability to inflict damage, manipulate the human race, and kill. To begin, this brutality can be witnessed when Liesel Meminger makes Ilsa Hermann feel terrible by calling her pathetic for not getting over the death …show more content…

A visual image is created of the damage that words can inflict on others when Zusak emphasizes that “cuts had opened up and a series of wounds were rising to the surface of her skin. All from words, Liesel’s words”(Zusak___). As a result of this, Liesel attacks Ilsa with her words and leaves a long lasting scar which will remind Ilsa of the brutal power of Liesel’s words. Secondly, it is also demonstrated that words can be manipulative in Max Vandenburg’s story, The Word Shaker. Adolf Hitler, the tyrannical leader of Nazi Germany used his power of words and propaganda to “rule the world with words”(Zusak, The Word Shaker). On of his best pieces, Mein Kampf, is full of the propaganda and cynical words that became very known during World War II. Subsequently, words are used by all great leaders to successfully lead people with effectiveness. So, words were the manipulative basis of the loss and suffering during World War II, and will continue

Show More
Related

Power Of Words In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief

801 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel, The Book Thief, a fictional story, author Markus Zusak demonstrates the power of words to save or destroy someone or something. The setting is WWII in Molching, Germany. Leisel is a foster child who went through a lot to get to where she is, Himmel Street. She is living with her foster parents, Rosa and Hans Hubermann. She also has a very good friend, Rudy, who is your typical Aryan boy with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Read More

Book Thief Juxtaposition

705 Words | 3 Pages

In The Book Thief the words and how they are used play an important role in the novel. The main character, Liesel, learns how to read when she arrives at the home of her foster parents in Molching, and from there learns the meaning of different words and the power they hold, in which she uses it for good. However, Hitler and the Nazis use the words for evil; to spread propaganda and hatred across Germany. In this way, does Zusak also show juxtaposition between words being used for good and words being used for evil. In The Book Thief, it states, “He (Hitler) invited his people toward his own glorious heart, beckoning them with his finest, ugliest words …

Read More

Summary Of The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

1007 Words | 5 Pages

Eleven million people murdered by Hitler and his Nazi’s. Of that six million were Jewish, five million were not. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak touched on topics about what it was like for most Non-Jewish Germans and their experiences during WWII. Night by Elie Wiesel talked about the scenarios that Jews faced during the Holocaust in a concentration camp. In fact, Night is an autobiography of Elie's experience in the concentration camp, Auschwitz, during 1944-1945.

Read More

Symbolism In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

1170 Words | 5 Pages

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a famous, wholehearted book that expresses the storyline in the events of World War II, the Holocaust, and the reign of Adolf Hitler in the setting of Germany. The author writes about a German family that faces the era of World War II, as the family faces obstacles that ultimately lead them to the hands of Death. A significance of the book is the variety of symbols that Zusak displays throughout the story that keeps the audience to pay close attention to the meaning of objects and people. The books supply the meaning of “freedom” towards the story because the words and knowledge distract the characters from the reality of World War II. The accordion symbolizes “comfort” and “hope” because whenever the music

Read More

How Does Hitler Use Power In The Book Thief

734 Words | 3 Pages

The power of words is present when the narrator, Death, introduces Hitler, in “the Fuhrer decided that he would rule the world with words… a nation of farmed thoughts.” The metaphor in “rule the world with words” demonstrates how Hitler was able to weaponize his words to create a tool of manipulation for his rise to power. This is further supported through the extended metaphors of “planted”, “farmed” and “grow… great forests”, to portray how Hitlers dangerous beliefs and words spread throughout the land, revealing the power of his words. Further, when Liesel yelled at the mayor’s wife for firing her, it reveals how Death acknowledges that words can be harmful. “The injury of words.

Read More

Power Of Words In Max Vandenberg's The Book Thief

2086 Words | 9 Pages

The unbreakable, Max Vandenberg, Max Vandenberg is a Jewish fist-fighter who ends up hiding in the basement of the Hubermann’s residence. Max windups there because Max’s father saved Hans’s life in World War I, as a way of repaying Max’s father Hans takes Max into care, however, this inevitably positions the Hubermann’s life in grave jeopardy. Max also feels ashamed of his burden towards the Hubermann’s, since he knows that his presence means that the Hubermann’s are no longer safe. Besides from their deep hatred for Hitler, Max, and Liesel connect in plenty of ways, they both suffer nightmares about their bygones, as well as imagining themselves literary fighting Germans. They also use Hans Hubermann as a way to relieve themselves from problems

Read More

Outline For Night By Elie Wiesel

561 Words | 3 Pages

An eloquent leader, Elie Wiesel uses the power of language to confront the problems of humanity. A. Through compelling prose and brutal honesty, he explains that we cannot root out evil unless we recognize it and battle it wherever it exists. B. In his classic book, Night, he says of Auschwitz: “Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.” Transition: Haunting words that remind us of the reality of evil.

Read More

Censorship In The Book Thief

812 Words | 4 Pages

According to Harmful and Undesirable by Guenter Lewy, “Hitler had argued in Mein Kampf that the Jews had “poisoned German culture,” including literature, and had “wrecked all the conceptions of beauty and dignity” (101). Words were important for Liesel. She stated, “I have hated the words and I have loved them” (Zusak 528). She hated the words because a powerful word “communism” had tore her away from her mother. She loved the words because they connected her with her friend Max Vandenburg.

Read More

Book Thief Loss

703 Words | 3 Pages

“She saw it so clearly, her starving mother, her missing father, her dead brother” (Zusak 111). This thought had occurred to Liesel during the book burning. After witnessing all the Hitler supporters chant and scream Liesel had realized on harsh fact, she was truly alone. Not only, but also Liesel had come to realization she has truly lost her freedom and rights as a human being. “A collection of men walked from a platform and surrounded the heal “Heil Hitler” they chanted “Die Judens”(Zusak 113).

Read More

Discussion Questions For The Book Thief

1960 Words | 8 Pages

1. In “The Book Thief”, Markus Zusak uses Death to present in Liesel’s point of view but also provide information outside the town that is unknown to Liesel. He is an alien in this chaotic world, but contains feelings that are almost human-like. Each time he collects a dead body, he begins to realize the importance of human existence through the different feelings and emotions of each victim.

Read More

The Role Of Self Preservation In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief

989 Words | 4 Pages

To love is to risk. Whether that is risking life, belief, health, or reputation, it is still a risk at any rate to give devotion to another. No era in history knows this better than during the Holocaust. Still, the most unexpected of people would die trying to help Jews escape persecution, they would help others who didn't share the same moral foundation as they did, they would share food rations when they barely had enough for themselves, or they would risk their public standing and forever be labeled as a sympathizer just to help a suffering soul regain his balance. Similarly, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief demonstrates a complete comprehension of how humans act against self preservation and individual comfort when challenged with harrowing situations that appeal to their own personal connections.

Read More

'Girl' By Jamaica Kinkaid Analysis

749 Words | 3 Pages

Fiction There are some similarities and differences in "Boys" by Rick Moody, "Girl" by Jamaica Kinkaid and "Lust" by Susan Minot; thus, they will be discussed in terms of the narrator, point of view, and character development. " Boys" is about two brothers and their journey throughout life. During the story they face many conflicts; while "Girl" seems to be a series of instructions from a mother to her daughter. "Lust" is powerful and seductive by the way that the anonymous girl is talking about her life.

Read More

The Book Thief Character Analysis Essay

840 Words | 4 Pages

Growing as a Character Every event in our lives happens for a reason, whether it is to learn from our mistakes or to gain experience from them. In Markus Zusak's novel “The Book Thief,” Liesel Meminger uses her experiences with living in the 1940s to learn life lessons and experience first hand the many terrible things Hitler is doing to people around her. She learns how to deal with the many obstacles that are thrown at her. Liesel grows as a character by following her step-father’s footsteps in being a kind and generous person, going through childhood with her best friend Rudy, and being aware of what is going on around her by learning from Max.

Read More

The Importance Of Words In The Book Thief

978 Words | 4 Pages

At first, Liesel is illiterate, but when she steals her first book at her brother’s funeral, and is abandoned by her mother, she turns to something she

Read More

The Book Thief Words Analysis

529 Words | 3 Pages

Words in The Book Thief demonstrates that words and language have immense power. Words can be used in a negative or positive ways. Hitler used words to spread propaganda in a fallacious way which led to deleterious human beings. The people (Germans) that lived during the war were credulous about what Hitler said therefore their life turned out to be debacle. Hitler used words to deceive and outsmart the others, he implanted words and images into the Jews heads to think a certain way(Zusak, Markus Frank.

Read More

More about Powerful Words In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

Open Document