“Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.” The Book Thief centers around the life of Liesel Meminger, a young girl in Germany during World War 2. The story is narrated by Death who describes the beauty and the carnage during this time period. Throughout the novel, we see the immense impact books and words have on the charecters and their surroundings, They hurt, they heal , they instill hope, and most of all, they bring the world together wether it be for good or evil purposes.

In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, the theme of words and their power can be seen throughout the whole book. In the beginning of the novel, Liesel Memigner’s brother dies on the train on the way to their new foster parents. This has a traumatic effect on Liesel and the only thing she has to remember her brother is a book that she found at the graveyard titled The Gravediggers Handbook. This is …show more content…
In the novel Adolf Hitler used words to captivate people and continue to deceive and rule the country. as Markus writes “There was once a strange, small man. He decided three important details about his life: 1. He would part his hair from the opposite side to everyone else.2. He would make himself a small, strange mustache. 3. He would one day rule the world. ...Yes, the Fuhrer decided that he would rule the world with words.” He was exceptional in using words to capture the minds of Germany’s people, and thus, was able to rule the country with only the power of his speeches. This can be seen when Liesel is dreaming of him on the train stating “ She was listening contentedly to the torrent of words spilling out of his mouth. His sentences glowed in the light.” Hitler used the power of words to mislead his people while he contriuened to hurt and discrimate the