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The Book Thief The Power Of Words

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The Power of Words
Words and language have great power and influence, they are in fact what makes people, people. The power of words is so immense that they can move people to new religions, practices, and change lives. But words also have a bad side, they can kill, hurt, and destroy people in many ways that go unnoticed. The Book Thief is a great example of this, it shows the power of words in Nazi Germany on a large scale and the effect on a small scale for a girl living in Germany.

The power of words is an extremely underestimated aspect of daily life. All humans use words to communicate with over 6,500 languages spoken all around the world. The power of words is easy to come by, but is very hard to master. Many world leaders have …show more content…

Words brought Max and Liesel together, Hans and Liesel together, and Rosa and Liesel together. When Liesel and Hans met, Hans soothed and calmed Liesel with his words and read to her, he would come in the middle of the night and stay by her side all night. Death asserts, “Not leaving: an act of trust and love, often deciphered by children.” (Zusak,37). When Liesel met Max, they bonded through similar backgrounds. They both came from families that were taken away by the Nazi army, and they used stories and words to bond and help each other through rough times. Rosa and Liesel had a different kind of relationship. The relationship they had was tough love. Rosa was tough on Liesel but they both knew they loved each other and became close. Death states, “In the beginning, it was the profanity that made an immediate impact. It was so vehement and prolific. Every second word was either Saumensch or Saukerl or Arschloch. For people who aren’t familiar with these words, I should explain. Sau, of course, refers to pigs. In the case of Saumensch, it serves to castigate, berate, or plain humiliate a female. Saukerl (pronounced “saukairl”) is for a male. Arschloch can be translated directly into “asshole.” That word, however, does not differentiate between the sexes. It simply is.” (Zusak, 32) This quotation shows the viscous language of Rosa, but even with her harsh words she conveyed

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5. Rosa Hubermann was Liesel’s foster mother, and requested Liesel call her mama. In the book, Death mentioned that she loved Liesel just as much as Hans, she just didn’t show it the same way. Rosa was very strict, and to make money for the family, she did the rich’s laundry. Liesel and Hans always joked about how much mama complained, because she always seemed to be able to argue about everything.

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However, words also separated them when Max, a Jewish man had to leave the Hubermann’s home in fear he would be found. It was Hitler’s words and his believes that had brought Liesel and her friend apart. Thus, Liesel knew how powerful words are. “The words. Why did they have to exist?

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Both these protagonists happen to be political refugees avoiding Nazi persecution: Liesel’s parents were Communists and Max is a Jew. Max and Liesel alike have recurring nightmares about the last time they saw their families and these help Max and Liesel link themselves in areas where no one would understand their pain due to the loss of their family. Unlike most relationships theirs is based on their similar past and personalities as well as unspoken understanding along with the trust for each other. These similarities form a strong bond between Max and Liesel and this makes “The Standover Man”, a book compiled by Max using pages from “Mein Kampf” important, as Max helps Liesel realize that the power of words can be used to delight as well as harm others. “The best standover man I’ve ever known is not a man at all...”, a line within “The Standover Man” implies that Max believes that Liesel and he need each other and this friendship is unique to both of

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A main reason Liesel develops into the character she is by the end of the novel is due to the individuals she meets and her relationships with them. When Hans Hubermann becomes

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In the novel, Liesel’s behavior shows justice and love through her friendship with Max. Although her relationship with Max in the beginning of the book was rather awkward, soon her perspective towards Max soothes and their relationship bonds to a friendship. There are some times when Liesel’s actions were unbelievable, especially during the Jew parade. “ ‘ You have to let go of me Liesel.’

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To Heal and to Hurt: The Importance of Words in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak “Words do two major things. They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.” This quote by Jim Rohn highlights the two major things words do, indicating they have a power, an important role in everyday lives. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is an outstanding representation of many topics including the most crucial one, the importance of words. It is the late 1930s to early 1940s in Germany during the World War II, and the main character, Death, cannot help himself but to be intrigued by Liesel Meminger’s story, a girl that lives in Munich, Germany on Himmel Street.

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Another moment that helped the connection between the two is when Liesel had nightmares and Hans would come in and comfort her by teaching her how to read or when they would go to the basement to teach Liesel how to spell and write. These moments shared between the two created a bond through books since Hans and she spent a lot of time together which developed the trust in Liesel towards

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Their relationship dominates the middle section of the book, as Max comes to Himmel street just as part three starts, and Liesel thinks about him almost constantly as soon as he arrives. Consequently, the first quote I chose for them was when Liesel first catches a glimpse of Max in the kitchen. “She lingered a moment before her feet dragged from behind. When she stopped and stole one last look at the foreigner in the kitchen, she could decipher the outline of a book on the table” (Zusak 186). In this scene, Liesel sees Max’s book, and this is the start of the two of them and their connection with words that appears continuously through the rest of the novel.

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A good example of this would be, “What was that, Saumensch?” (Zusak, 70) This term appears a lot in the book since “Saumensch” is what Rosa likes to call Liesel. This term was what bugged me the most since “Saumensch” is not a nice thing to call someone, as it is an insult to a woman. The male translation would be “Saukerl.”

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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.

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