Books, sentences, paragraphs all share one thing in common. They all contain words that aren't. Words formed into sentences formed into stories full of emotion and meaning, behind what appears to be clumped up letters is a story, and in this story these words are powerful. The Book Thief, a book about the life story of Liesel Meminger before she finds a love for book-stealing, book-stealing that leads to comfort, sadness, and escape, portrays the influence of literature and affect on others. “I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right” (Zusak 528), is the last line of The Book Thief which ties to the central theme of the power words hold in love and hatred. Love and hatred; two contradicting emotions that …show more content…
The words in the book make no sense to her, it’s meaning is far more important, connecting her to the last time she has seen her mother and brother. When Liesel starts learning how to read, she finds comfort and security within them, wanting to steal more and more. Hans Hubermann helps her gain confidence in reading, for her to become an excellent reader and forget her insecurity. “She [gave] The Dream Carrier to Max as if the words alone could nourish him” (Zusak 328), reading to him twice even sometimes three times a day in hope for Max to wake up. Liesel constantly craves the urge to go out and steal more books, thinking that the more books she could bring back and read to Max, the quicker he will wake up. Nothing but the comfort of words surrounds Liesel in Ilsa Hermann’s home. Pages of Mein Kampf lay on the cold, ground covering the basement …show more content…
The most popular book in Nazi Germany, “Mein Kampf”. Of all the things to save him” (Zusak 160), lays in Max Vandenburg’s lap as he is on the way to a place where he knows he is not welcome, Stuttgart. A Jewish man holding a book that was written by Hitler, the biggest antisemite of all, contradicting the Holocaust, but the reason Max is carrying that book is because of his admiration toward Hitler, but rather the opposite. The same reason why he chose to write his own book, covering all of Mein Kampf’s pages, rejecting all of Hitler’s ideas, silencing Hitler’s voice and creating his own. The exact words that could lead to getting in trouble with the dangerous Nazi Party are the same words that Liesel says to her father, “I hate the Führer” (Zusak 115). The power four words have is enough for Liesel to face the consequences of death, not only are words powerful in books but are in things people say. A ripped up book on the floor of Ilsa Hermann’s library sits right next to Liesel, thinking aloud to herself “The words. Why did they have to exist? Without words, the Führer was nothing” (Zusak
Throughout the novel Liesel reaches new highs and new lows, overcoming her fears and succumbing to her anger. Liesel's sudden outburst at Ilsa Hermann after Ilsa asking to stop the laundry services caused her to finally accept her brother's death and even helped Ilsa accept her son's death as well. Ilsa's guilt consumed her and caused her to become a house ridden woman overcome by her grief while Liesel overcame her guilt and grief by learning how to read and write not allowing them to overcome her. "“It’s about time,” she [Liesel] informed her, “that you do your own stinking washing anyway. It’s about time you faced the fact that your son is dead. He got killed! He got strangled and cut up more than twenty years ago! Or did he freeze to death? Either way, he’s dead! He’s dead and it’s pathetic that you sit here shivering in your own house to suffer for it. You think you’re the only one?” Immediately. Her brother was next to her. He whispered for her to stop, but he, too, was dead, and not worth listening to. He died in a train. They buried him in the snow. […] “This book,” she went on. She shoved the boy down the steps, making him fall. “I don’t want it.” The words were quieter now, but still just as hot. She threw The Whistler at the woman’s slippered feet, hearing the clack of it as it landed on the cement. “I don’t want your miserable book. ”[…] her brother holding his
“I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” (Zusak 528) Words and the power they possess is a common theme that is heavily mentioned throughout the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Throughout this book, rhetoric affects multiple characters in both positive and negative ways. There are instances in this book in which one can see how words have the ability to tear people down, educate and inform, and to inspire individuals to follow their dreams.
Belonging is being accepted by a group of community that relate together by a common factor. A sense of belonging is not just dictated by yourself and your own values and beliefs but also by the ideas and values held by others. I believe that people can choose not to belong to a certain community due to the fact that they may not agree to other people values and beliefs. The Book Thief follows a German girl named Liesel Meminger, abandoned by her mother, she is sent to live with foster parents. The text is set in Nazi Germany during the WWII era. Through the text we follow her living in war times and experience her realisation to the true nature of the German people. At Rainbows End follows an Aboriginal family living in racist times in Australia. We are shown the way of life these people have to endure and how it feels to have a government who doesn’t care about your existence. (Reword)
...er, and Liesel becomes a complete book thief. She rescues Jewish books from Nazi book- burnings and steals from the mayor’s library. Liesel is illiterate when she steals her first book, but Hans Hubermann uses her prized books to teach her to read. In the end, Liesel marries Max and moves to Australia. She has several children and grandchildren. Liesel eventually dies in Sydney.
Suffered the loss of her brother werner, while attending his funeral “there was something black and rectangular lodged in the snow. Only [liesel] saw it. She bent down and picked it up and held it firmly in her fingers. The book had silver writing on it” (zusak 24). It was a book named “the grave digger 's handbook”. This proves that without even understanding the book Liesel was already looking for ways to learn and find a passion to mourn her brothers death. Next, is the relationship Liesel has with her papa, Hans. He shows Liesel how to read and write. Liesel, who doesn 't know how, grabs books that Hans then quietly shows her to translate. He does this through their night time nightmare hours “Unofficially, it was called the midnight class, even though it commenced at around two in the morning” (70). furthermore in the storm cellar, utilizing Hans ' paints to show her how to compose. He is staggeringly understanding, as this is an extremely troublesome and moderate procedure, and he never demonstrates restlessness or dissatisfaction with Liesel 's moderate advancement, thus proving that liesel stuck with her idea and followed through with her passion. Lastly, Liesel 's passion for reading and writing progressed when Ilsa gave her the a journal to write her story in, “[she] thought if [Liesel was not] going to read anymore of [her] books, [she] might like to write one instead.”
The Holocaust is marked as one of the most horrifying events of the 20th century.The person who was responsible for the Holocaust was Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party. The question is, how, and why was Hitler able to do this? The actual truth behind all this is that, Hitler could make the world his, just by using words. In The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, it tells a story about a young girl growing up when Nazi Germany was invincible. The author explores some very meaningful, yet, controversial themes for the most part of the novel. Out of all themes, he believes that words hold a remarkable power. He explores how words manipulate, divide, and connect people.
In the novel The Book Thief, setting and point of view affect the theme and book a lot. The point of view of this novel is third person omniscient and a little bit of second and first person when the narrator talks about himself or to the reader. The setting of the story is Nazi Germany and it is based on a young girl named Liesel Meminger and what her life was like during this time. Her story is told by the narrator, death. Mark Zusak, the author, uses setting and point of view to express the theme of the novel because there was so much death happening, Liesel encountered him so many times, causing him to be able to tell her story; without this setting and the narrator, the theme story would have been different.
Words have the power to affect people in many ways from empowerment or to taking upon action. Words are able to make huge changes in the lives of many and can make good or bad changes. In history, people used words in both good and bad function from making a promise to a nation or even manipulating multitudes of people within a nation. Words definitely have the ability to take situations a far distance but despite the fact that evil can manipulate the majority of people, individuals too can realize the true actions and evil buried inside the perpetrator. People can be both ugly and beautiful at sometimes with weapons along their sides. A novel called The Book Thief illustrates the power of words in a multitude of ways, showing the potential
One may wonder since in The Book Thief many characters are negatively impacted by the power of words if many characters are positively impacted by the power of words.
Zusak uses intertextual allusion to Mein Kampf, Hitler’s autobiography, to depict how a book which indoctrinated many people and was the cause of great hate and destruction, can be used for good and can save lives, such as when“Max Vandenburg arrived on Himmel Street carrying handfuls of suffering and Hitler’s Mein Kampf”, also showing the dehumanisation of Jews. When hiding in the Hubermann’s basement, Max paints over the pages of Mein Kampf, and writes The Standover Man, a book about Max and Liesel’s powerful friendship, which is symbolic showing that by painting over the pages of Mein Kampf, Max is stealing Hitler’s words and turning ideas of indoctrination and hate into something good, and showing how their friendship is more powerful than Hitler’s words. Through Max’s narrative voice, Zusak shows the power and goodness of Liesel’s kind words against Hitler when he writes The Word Shaker in his sketchbook.
“The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.” This quote is from the famous diary of Anneliese Marie Frank; a holocaust victim and a modern time hero. In Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, Liesel Meminger is surviving through World War II just like Anne Frank. Although their circumstances are vastly different, both girls learn that the person they wish to become must be created through their own experiences and trauma. Narrated by Death, The Book Thief is the story of Liesel Meminger, a nine-year-old German girl who has been given up by her mother to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann in the small town of Molching in 1939. In the novel, Liesel’s greatest mountain is her internal conflict with herself and the propaganda
Death states that, “I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both” (Zusak 491). This book shows us human doing things that weren’t even imaginable before this point. Many people give into ideas that were lies. But, we also watch a few people go out of their way and sacrifice everything for a man they barely even know. They do everything they can to keep him safe and alive. They work harder, the get another job, and they even steal. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, death examines the ugliness and the beauty of humans.
Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is a Fictional story of a young girl, Liesel, growing up in Nazi Germany. The book is geared towards Young-Adults with the goal of convincing the reader that not all Germans during World War II were bad. Using a unique narrative we are guided through the story line by Death, who will often tell us his opinion of the going-ons of the story as well as giving us further context so as to allow a better understanding of the situations we are presented with. From a young age I was taught that the Germans were bad people, much like Muslims today we generalize an entire population based off of the actions of a relatively small group of the whole. After reading The Book Thief, although a fictional story, it has brought me to understand that most Germans during WWII were merely trying to get by, they were living ordinary, or as
As time evolves, so do the words that are essential for our everyday survival. The most obvious difference between humans and animals is our ability to master the art of speech. Often, people will say the “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, a simple nursery rhyme that helps ease a bullied child from abusive words and taunts. But does that really help cure the emotional pain? Words can illuminate and motivate the minds of people but can also shadow their self-esteem through psychological trauma. In The Book Thief, we see how fundamental words were to shape the reality of millions of people caught in the fire of World War II.
Self-concept is how we think of ourselves; according to our own self and behavior. We can also call it as self- image. It is the sum of all the knowledge and information we have about ourselves. Self-concept include things like, our gender, name, personality, beliefs, values, like and dislike, and so on. For example, for me, I think I am a little bit shy girl, I am friendly, and I like to make friends with people. I like listen to music, watch movie, and play computer games. These are all the self-concept of myself. Self- concept answer the question of “who am I?” Self-concept may both include positive opinion and negative opinion.