Summary Of The Book Thief By Mark Zusak

Mark Zusak emphasises in the novel, The Book Thief, that words have the capacity to both hurt and heal people. In emphasising the theme of hatred in the book Mark Zusak constructs the events that led to Liesel erupting like a volcano. When Ilsa Hermann’s husband fires Mama Liesel, in her anger, screams cruelly at Ilsa saying how because she cannot deal with the death of her son she is contemptible. At that moment Zusak intentionally characterises Liesel as “spiteful” as she begins to discover the “brutality of words”. Although, Liesel starts to learn from Ilsa Hermann that punishing herself will not bring back the people in her life, which were taken. Instead, she begins to heal herself slowly but surely as she writes about her life and ultimately