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Powerful Words In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

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“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

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