The following paper highlights the role of words or language in the life of the major character Liesel. The introduction shows that general background of the paper and the overall setting of the novel. Zusak integrates his voice in the novel as he use Liesel to show the difference that word make in the lives of individuals. The paper also compares the way that Hitler uses words to manipulate the German people against how Liesel uses language to ease the burden of the characters she interacts with. In addition, there are the influential factors that play an integral role in Liesel’s development as a reader and how these individuals shape her life. The final pages look at how Death shows his respect for Liesel. In addition, there is mention of the figurative devices and how Zusak’s choice of words impact on his readers.
Markus Zusak’s “The Book Thief” tells the story of a young girl, Liesel Meminger, during the Second World War in Nazi Germany. Liesel becomes detached from her mother and her younger brother dies. She goes to live with Rosa and Hans Huberman near Munich. She attends the local school in the town and faces bullying because of her inability to read. But, Hans fixes the problem as he teaches Liesel to read at nights. Through the power of the written word, Liesel adjusts to her new home. She develops a close relationship with Hans and feels comfortable with the Hubermans. Through the use of language Zusak creates a compelling story to make a difference in the way individuals see the power of language. Language, spoken or written, is a powerful tool. Liesel learns that language is a powerful weapon that compels individuals to become kind or cruel. The language in the novel is simple, creative, and concise, yet it offers a perceptive view through Death as the narrator. Through the use of language, Zusak shows that words are important tools in expressing one’s inner thoughts and feelings.
Liebenson writes “when she came to write her story, Death relates, "she would wonder exactly when the books and the words started to mean not just something but everything," (as cited Liebenson, par. 8). By learning how to read, Liesel, discovers a numbers of things she did not know before. The most important lesson she learns is how to express self with words. Death narrates ‘Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out, like the rain,' (Zusak, p. 85). The fact is that the novel represents the power of words and language and “act as a conduit for the writer's imagination and as a haven for the reader in the exploration of our deepest emotions and fears,” (Sheahan-Bright, p. 1).
Arguably, it is her word that keeps motivates her in the desolate world, and helps her to encourage those around her to remain strong throughout the chaos that comes with the warfare. When everything else in her life becomes chaotic, Liesel relies on her ability to read and write to her to take out of this world. Arguably, words are the tools that the Nazi used to brainwash the people, and at the same time, words give strength and comforts when Liesel speaks. Liesel did not have the extravagance of visiting a library and accessing books. The desire to read became an integral part of Liesel’s life and she resorted to stealing books and saving others from malicious fires to satisfy her desire to read. The books that Liesel steals offer an insight into the influence and excitement of books during the Holocaust. The reality is that the Nazi’s burnt books that represent a ray of hope for Liesel, the world after the Holocaust, and the Jewish communities.
At the age of nine, Liesel first book is about grave digging. Here, death meets Liesel for the first time after her brother’s death. Despite Death’s best intent, he is curious by Liesel as she survives death. Death is there when Liesel steals The Gravedigger’s Handbook at her brother’s graveside. Death is constant during the story as a number of individuals die during the Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Arguably, Death symbolizes the powerlessness and destruction and powerlessness, while language symbolizes life and creation. The reader sees that Liesel steals books so as to revolt against the treatment of the Nazis that she cannot avoid. The episode at the graveside is Liesel’s first vulnerable moment. She is heartbroken because she cannot bring her brother back to life; hence, she steals the book to reclaim some amount of power to her life.
The novel is a clear indication of the way that language helps individuals to overcome adversity. In addition, the reader sees that despite one’s harsh conditions, there is no doubt that words help to create a fanatic sense of hatred while it also offers an opportunity for healing. Zusak skillfully uses his voice to show what happens to the human soul when Death comes. Critics note that the novel is more than a fictitious tale of Death as a personification of a real person, but of the harsh reality that no one is above Death. Arguably, many children learn from a young age that one must fear Death, but Zusak shows that just as mankind fears Death, Death fears mankind. In addition, Liesel represents Zusak’s voice as she shows “the tragedy of what happens to the human soul when the power to express or write words is taken away from it,” (Sheahan-Bright, p. 2). Liesel steals books and rescues these books from the just so she can read and ultimately put her words on paper to show the hardships of life in the Holocaust.
Peter Orli reiterates the idea that “most humans who live under constant threat will end up accommodating the maliciousness,” (Orli, par. 8) and voice their opinions. In addition, Orli suggests that not everyone can evade the Nazi ideological virus, (Orli, par. 8). As a result, the reader is not surprised that Liesel’s words become hard at times as she absorbs the cruelty of the Holocaust. Zusak carefully uses language metaphorically to create the violence, destruction, and death that one associates with Nazi Germany. In fact, Zusak shows that the books that the Nazis burnt represented the ways in which the Germans attempted to exert control over the people. Additionally, Hitler’s Germany controlled much of what the people read and wrote as by controlling these two important elements, the society could not learn to distinguish between right and wrong. Similarly, the control over reading material also added to the Nazis controlling the minds of the Germans as they crushed their spirits. Liesel successfully saves one of the books from the smoldering paper and shows childlike resistances to the control and power of the Nazi organization. While the gesture is small, it proves that the Nazis did not have complete control over Liesel’s life.
Laura Baum indicates that “feisty Leisel was not the only character who loved books, (Baum, par. 4). Additionally, Baum speaks about Liesel’s foster father, who inspired and taught her to read, (Baum, par. 4); Max Vandenburg, a man who Liesel’s fostr family saves with a book and who reads with Liesel and writes books for her to read, (Baum, par. 4); and Ilsa Hermann, the mayor’s wife, who gives access to her library and in turn a sense of power to execute these words, (Baum, par. 4). The main connecting factor between Liesel and the other characters in her life is the books that helped her to understand the other characters. Furthermore, Zasuk shows that the books keep Liesel safe. She hides in the basement and reads as bombs flew towards her home. Nevertheless, the real power of the written word kept Liesel firm in her personal beliefs. In addition, the words comforted during her as she passed through the rigors of war.
The power of language influences and affects a number of people in the story in a positive and negative way. Nonetheless, the reader sees the irony of the fact that more people prefer to use the book in a negative rather than positive way. The use of the language impacts the lives of these major characters and shapes their future. For Liesel and Hitler, the language gives power as words represents the craft or weave that brings more power to the user. Conversely, Zusak writes the novel to illustrate that words are powerful in a horrifying and remarkable way. Hitler convinces those around him to follow his dictate to rid the society of the Jews. At the end of the First World War, Hitler accuses the Jews of being the primary factor for starting the war and killing the Germans. As such, he believes that the Jews should be punished for the destruction they caused in the country. During his imprisonment he writes Mein Kampf as his first moment of embracing the power of words.
While the circumstances of Hitler’s release are not clear, one is sure that his words brought him the blind devotion of much of the Germans. Their actions, under Hitler’s command, led to the formation of the Nazi party and the law that Hitler would rule for four years unopposed. Hitler’s reign of terror started with the communists and led to the Jews. The reader sees that Hitler’s rule heightened through his oratorical skills as he draws his followers with his weapon of words. Liesel notes: "I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right," (Zusak, p. 528). Liesel finds discouragement and pain as she holds her head down at the terror of Hitler’s horrific words. The fact is that Hitler’s calming tone with its purely hateful words, wield’s power and these words are the reason for Liesel’s intense and prolonged suffering.
Through Ilsa, Liesel learns that words are not always powerful enough to hurt, but that language becomes the means of expression. She gives Liesel a blank book and encourages her to write her ideas. Liesel writes of her pain and suffering and reinforces Zusak’s need to make the world aware of the sufferings of the Holocaust and the beauty that lies beneath. Liesel uses her words as a weapon, but she shows the conflicting power of love and hate with her choice of words. Zusak uses this to show the irony of the way in which language affects individuals. Maslin writes “the youthful sensibility of "The Book Thief" also contributes to a wider innocence,” (Maslin, par. 4). Additionally, Maslin postulates “most of this story is figurative: it unfolds as symbolic or metaphorical abstraction,” (Maslin, par. 4) in the use of the language.
The power of language in the novel is crucial the development of the events in the novel. The readers see that Liesel did not use the power of her speech at the start of the novel, but as she grows, her voice took new strength. The readers see Liesel mature into a smart and stronger character with her language. The fact that she stole the books from Ilsa Hermann’s library suggests that Liesel fights back at the society as she tries to regains what belongs to her as an individual. This victory comes through her “voice” or words as she attempts to soothe those around her when she reads. In addition, the power of language connects the characters directly and indirectly. Clearly, Liesel achieves power in her words when she steals the books and writes her own book. Ilsa Hermann’s shows the power of her language through the enormous collection of books that she has in her library. The library is Ilsa’s fortress of privacy where she loses herself in the painful memory of late son.
Graham Huggan writes that Markus Zusak grew up hearing stories from his parents about the bombing of Munich and Jews being marched through the streets of Nazi Germany, (Huggan, par. 8). It is through Zusak’s book that the readers learn of the events of Nazi Germany and leads the reader to liken Liesel’s use of words as a weapon to that of the author. Butler writes “as she acquires these books, through the process or stealing them and the process of developing reading skills, Liesel learns the power that words can have with influencing people and persuading people to follow you,” (Butler, p.1) . In addition, Liesels learns what it means when one cannot read. Nevertheless, “in the bomb shelter basement she learns the effect words can have on others—for good or bad[as she] learns the incredible power of words when she understands the impact of the words of one man, Adolf Hitler, and his book, Mein Kampf,” (Butler, p.1).
Liesel uses her words to teach the characters that there is comfort in getting lost in another world as they attempt to deal with the horrors of the Holocaust. In the end, it is her “addiction to reading which eventually saves her life,” (Huggan, par. 8). Similarly, Zusak draws the public into a commanding tale of one child’s adventure during the Holocaust. While numerous stories have been told about the Nazi Germany, Zusak “allows insights into the complexities of German-Jewish relations at a time when to be a Jewish sympathizer was, quite literally, to risk one’s life,” (Huggan, par. 8).
Zusak, in an interview shared on Good-reads tells his audience that he uses his voice to talk about the hardships of those suffered at the hands of the fear that gripped the people in Nazi Germany, (Zusak, n.p) . In addition, he presents the role of Death as one who is afraid of people as people are afraid of death. Zusak attempts to control the power of his words and “accommodate the conflicting expectations of Holocaust literature aimed at children and young adults,” by using Death to present the harsh realities that everyone must die. Zusak shows “the philosophy that words and books have power,” (Sheahan-Bright, par. 2) as he allows Hans to teach Liesel to read as such “help her to cope with the terrible world in which she finds herself,” (Sheahan-Bright, par. 2). Hans presents her with The Dog Named Faust and The Lighthouse for her Christmas gift and she saves The Shoulder Shrug from the Nazis burning the books to stifle the intellectual growth of the people. The Mayor’s wife observes this and introduces Liesel to her private library of books, (Zusak, p. 146). In addition, Liesel discovers how the power of language saved Hans. She notes, ‘but I would soon learn that words and writing actually saved his life once. Or at least, words and a man who taught him the accordion, '(Zusak, p 67).
The reality is that words are powerful and at the same time, it is dangerous depending on how one uses his words. Zusak makes use of metaphors along with personification to create a vivid picture of Germany under Nazi control. Through his vivid descriptions, the readers readily visualize Himmel Street as “buildings appear to be glued together, mostly small houses and apartment blocks that look nervous. There is murky snow spread out like carpet. There is concrete, empty hat-stand trees, and gray air,” (Zusak, p. 27). The visual imagery here the reader quickly realizes the clustered building and lifeless trees that hints at the gloom of Hitler’s reign in Germany. In contrast to the gloomy setting, Max simple, but rich and lively stories for Liesel. The weather reports that Liesel give to Max is nowhere near the true gloom that Death presents in the story and adds to the contrast in the novel. Liesel cheers him up by saying: “The sky is blue today, Max, and there is a big long cloud, and it's stretched out, like a rope. At the end of it, the sun is like a yellow hole,” (Zusak, p. 249). Arguably, the weather reports brightens Max’s sad life and shows that even as Death presents the harsh conditions of life, Liesel’s fresh and childlike perception can change Max’s outlook on life. In the final pages, Death acknowledges that when he finally went for Liesel, he took the selfish pleasure in knowing that her words had power in her ninety years as her stories had touched the lives of many people. Death merely reinforces what the reader sees and that is that Death was speechless by the way Liesel changes the value and meaning of the spoken words.
In concluding, the author uses words as a means of persuasion. Hitler’s shows his power with words in his ability to brainwash the Nazi followers in his quest to rid the society of the Jews. At the time that Liesel’s brother died, she dreamt of Hitlers words as they flowed from the leaders mouth. She did not fully grasp the essence of his words, but later she knew that the words expressed evil. Similar to most of the Germans, Liesel was mesmerized by Hitler’s uncomplicated and childish approach to the evil nature of his speeches. His ability to captivate his audience was not lost on Liesel or the rest of the Germans who followed him blindly. As Liesel matures, she begins to understand that Hitler’s technique involved an attack on the Jewish as he preached hatred to those who followed his ideas.
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