The Book Thief - Importance of Words

Finding a Light Somewhere in the Dark Humans are a complex breed. They can easily contradict themselves. Even in the worst hours of darkness, they persevere. Also, one person may do something great for someone else, while another person steals away that light of greatness, and replaces it with the shadow of evil actions. When Markus Zusak says “It amazes me what humans can do, even when streams are flowing down their faces and they stagger on, coughing and searching, and finding” (Zusak 536), and “A few cars drove by, each way. Their drivers were Hitlers and Hubermanns, and Maxes, killers, Dillers, and Steiners…I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant” (Zusak 550), he is acknowledging that very confusing aspect that makes humans so complex. He brings up the point that humans are so completely different, yet so much the same. These words are so poignant because the reader must realize that there is both good and bad in the world, and even the most seemingly ordinary people can be the cause of something extraordinary. Humans have a persevering quality. They can be pushed down multiple times, yet still they stagger to their feet and search for what they are looking for. Death, the narrator, notices many people at their worst, searching for the people they love and knowing they probably won't find them, and yet those people still keep looking. Humans have hope. In the most hopeless of times, humans still have hope. Death is a sad occurrence. Death is something that inspires people to treat others the way they should have treated the person they lost. Through one of the hardest things a person goes through, losing a loved one, they overcome and become a better person. Humans can push through their troubles, they keep hope and conquer their emotions to make themselves better. They can make good come out of the bad situations. In the shadows of darkness humans create, people still manage to shine a little light of good. Humans use their words for good and evil, which makes words extremely powerful. Words can be, like Zusak said, so damning and brilliant. Hitler used his words to convince thousands of people that they were superior to others. Hitler ruled the world with just his words. That is all it took. He understood how to use them, and so he put them to use. Liesel also understood the power of words. She didn't use them the same way Hitler did. No, she used them to bring peace to people's live and provide a way for people to understand exactly what it was like to be ruled by someone who used words the wrong way. "She was renowned as the best word shaker of her region because she knew how powerless a person could be WITHOUT words" (Zusak 446). Max Vandenburg knew of Liesel's love and hunger for words. That is why in his short story she was the best word shaker, because she did know how powerless a person is without words. Liesel had been powerless without her words, she was bullied because she didn't know them. Liesel uses her words to comfort others while they are worried or scared. She uses words to bring a little bit of light to where Hitler had turned dark. Hitler and Liesel are so different, one good while on is evil, yet they are so much the same because they both understand how important words are. Contradiction is natural when it comes to humans. Markus Zusak wants readers to realize just how strange the human race is. A person could command the death of thousands, while one man would risk his own life just to save another. People can be so evil, but people can be so great. People can get up after a defeat, or a loss, no matter how hard it was. Humans can persevere when things get rough, and humans can be incredibly different from one another. It is sad to think about what humans can accomplish if power gets into the wrongs hands. Markus Zusak wants readers to see just how powerful words can make a human. If humans didn't have words, would they have anything at all?