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The Importance Of Words In The Book Thief

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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. At first, Liesel is illiterate, but when she steals her first book at her brother’s funeral, and is abandoned by her mother, she turns to something she …show more content…

Having no one familiar to turn to, she finds a passion for words and continues to steal more books and develops strength through her burgeoning intellect of words. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is about the power of words; in this novel Zusak reveals that one who truly knows the hidden strength behind all words, can dominate others because words are more powerful than any weapon. The importance of words is shown through the symbolism of certain words throughout the novel; the motif of hunger, how it leads to her hunger for words; and how different Liesel’s world would be without words.

Simple words can have deeper meanings.They can be symbols of something different, something more. There are words in The Book Thief that are emphasized, because they have a deeper meaning. They are emphasized to make sure the reader, as well as the characters in the novel have a truer understanding of what they mean and the importance they bear. Liesel uses two simple words to express how she feels about Ilsa’s situation, but those two words mean more that what she portrays them as, “Two Giant

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