The Book Thief Words Essay

Words can be used to harm people, or to heal people. This is evident in the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which narrates the life of a young girl named Liesel Meminger who is living in Nazi Germany. The book navigates through interesting character interactions, while many life lessons are discussed throughout the plot. The novel develops a theme of words which is proven to be evident in the plot through symbols and characters. This is proven through symbols such as Max’s copy of Mein Kampf, and character interactions such as Liesel Meminger and Isla Hermann.
Firstly, the significance of words is proven through Max’s copy of Mein Kampf. The copy of Mein Kampf is what brought Max to the Hubermann’s house. For instance, Zusak says, “Midway

To begin with, it teaches Liesel that she has flaws and makes her realize she isn’t a perfect human being. An example of this is that after she yells at Isla for firing her mother, Liesel says, “‘Papa.’ She whispered, ‘I think I’m going to hell'” (Zusak. 295). This demonstrates that Liesel has come to a realization that words can cut deep and sting, and anybody has the power to use their words for harm, thus feeling insanely guilty. In addition, their interactions lead Isla to leave a dictionary and thesaurus in Liesel’s possession so that she can continue to ‘collect’ new words. To illustrate, when Isla sent Liesel the first letter after being yelled at, she writes, “Lastly, I hope you find this dictionary and thesaurus useful as you read your stolen books'' (Zusak. 369). This signifies that the dictionary Isla left for Liesel is what connects Liesel with words, which she can use to her power, hence connecting Isla and Liesel together. Finally, through a series of domino effects, Isla ends up giving a little black book to Liesel, so that she can write her own story with her own words, which ultimately ends up saving her life. For example, when Liesel meets Isla after apologizing through a letter, Isla says, “‘I thought if you’re not going to read any of my books, you might like to write one instead. Your letter it was…’, she handed the book to Liesel with