The Tongue Toys
Words are the secret currency of influence and power and the novel “The Book Thief” demonstrates this. The novel “The Book Thief” was written by Markus Zusak and published in 2005. The novel is about a young German girl named Liesel Meminger and her experiences living in Nazi Germany. The thematic statement for the novel is “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”. This statement is quoted from the Christian bible, which shows a biblical allusion in the novel. The theme is evident in Liesel Meminger’s character development throughout the novel. She becomes a powerful, literate woman after showing up on Himmel Street a child unable to read the novel clutched to her chest. Also, the …show more content…
We follow her story, watching her grow and mature throughout the novel. Liesel begins the novel illiterate and unable to spell even her own name. This inability causes her to be “Humiliatingly, cast down with the younger kids, who were only just learning the alphabet.” (Zusak 39). The other students her age who knew she could not read began to perceive her as less intelligent, even kind students such as Rudy. This perception of Liesel demonstrates how illiterate people in the world are seen. Even if one has high intelligence without the ability to shape words they are pictured as beneath a potentially less intelligent but literate person. After being taught how to read by Papa, Liesel begins to understand the influence that words can have over a population. She begins to read as much as possible and improves her abilities. Her progress was noted throughout the novel particularly in the quote “Once, words had rendered Liesel useless, but now, when she sat on the floor, with the mayor’s wife at her husband’s desk, she felt an innate sense of power.” (Zusak 147). Liesel is beginning to learn of the influence associated with words and she is a development of the theme as the power of words is developing within her. Her personal growth contributes to the lesson being taught by this novel as we, the readers, learn the power of words while Liesel does as
Words are the secret currency of influence and power and the novel “The Book Thief” demonstrates this. The novel “The Book Thief” was written by Markus Zusak and published in 2005. The novel is about a young German girl named Liesel Meminger and her experiences living in Nazi Germany. The thematic statement for the novel is “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”. This statement is quoted from the Christian bible, which shows a biblical allusion in the novel. The theme is evident in Liesel Meminger’s character development throughout the novel. She becomes a powerful, literate woman after showing up on Himmel Street a child unable to read the novel clutched to her chest. Also, the …show more content…
We follow her story, watching her grow and mature throughout the novel. Liesel begins the novel illiterate and unable to spell even her own name. This inability causes her to be “Humiliatingly, cast down with the younger kids, who were only just learning the alphabet.” (Zusak 39). The other students her age who knew she could not read began to perceive her as less intelligent, even kind students such as Rudy. This perception of Liesel demonstrates how illiterate people in the world are seen. Even if one has high intelligence without the ability to shape words they are pictured as beneath a potentially less intelligent but literate person. After being taught how to read by Papa, Liesel begins to understand the influence that words can have over a population. She begins to read as much as possible and improves her abilities. Her progress was noted throughout the novel particularly in the quote “Once, words had rendered Liesel useless, but now, when she sat on the floor, with the mayor’s wife at her husband’s desk, she felt an innate sense of power.” (Zusak 147). Liesel is beginning to learn of the influence associated with words and she is a development of the theme as the power of words is developing within her. Her personal growth contributes to the lesson being taught by this novel as we, the readers, learn the power of words while Liesel does as