A/N: I did not write the novel 'The Book Theif,' and I am purely using it for analysis purposes, however this analysis is entirely my own work.

The Book Thief (TBT), first published in 2005, features young German girl named Liesel Meminger who moves to a fictional town called Himmel Street with her foster parents. It follows four pivotal years of her life as she meets new people, perfects the art of stealing –specifically books – and experiences terrible things in the midst of World War 2. In TBT,  Markus Zusak uses an embedded narrative structure, juxtaposition, symbolism, and metaphor to demonstrate that words have the ability to harm and heal.

Zusak uses an embedded narrative structure and juxtaposition to demonstrate the harming or healing properties of words. The Standover Man is an embedded story within TBT, written by Max Vandenburg – a Jewish man – as a gift for Liesel. In order to create The Standover Man, Max strips the pages from Mein Kampf, a book written by Hitler to spread his hateful ideologies, and uses white paint to cover the words. Mein Kampf in itself demonstrates how language can be weaponised to initiate violence, fear, and discrimination. By literally painting over those words, Max shows that this language can be reclaimed into something much more healing. He uses The Standover Man to tell Liesel that all his life he had been living in peoples’ shadows, yet finds comfort in her quiet companionship, despite his being an ‘enemy’ in a world of hate. Words from Mein Kampf can still be seen in the novel, beneath both Max and Zusak’s writing, supporting the idea that the imprint words have on people can never be completely removed, and their harmful existence has to be acknowledged, but can be morphed to have more positive impacts. Similarly, including a juxtaposition highlights the duality of words by contrasting their power to harm or heal. The Standover Man is a perfect example of this concept as it directly shows the difference between Mein Kampf’s harmful properties and The Standover Man’s healing ones. This translates into Zusak’s broader message that whilst words can be used to dehumanize and destroy, they also carry the power to rebuild, comfort, and connect people and communities. Through the embedded narrative of The Standover Man, Zusak highlights the duality of language and how they have the capability to harm or heal, depending strongly on the way they are used.

In addition to these text structures, Zusak uses symbolism and metaphor to describe the manipulative power words have on individuals, using The Word Shaker as an example. In this short story, words are described as seeds that the Führer scatters around the country. These seeds sprout into trees, then into forests, demonstrating the way that words and their impact grow overtime, developing into something people can no longer control. Word shakers are the people who spread Hitler’s ideology, and Liesel is described as the best word shaker. Through the drawings in The Word Shaker, it is shown that her tree is the tallest, and no one can cut it down. This tree depicts the way Liesel surrounds herself with the words, almost protecting herself from the outside world. In The Word Shaker, Hitler said “I will never fire a gun… I will not have to,” depicting the power he has over a nation simply due to his strong communicative skills and manipulative use of words. He watched “[the words] grow, until eventually, great forests of words had risen throughout Germany... It was a nation of farmed thoughts.” This description illustrates that whilst one word may seem small, together words form stories with great power and influence. Liesel asks the question “Without words, the Führer was nothing… what good where the words?” Illustrating to readers a wisdom beyond her age. Whilst Hitler had access to words, other people like Max and Liesel didn’t have this same privilege. They were silenced and expected to say what society wanted. Leisel’s final comment in the novel,  “I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right,” shows her awareness that words can both harm and heal, and reflects her desire to use them for the better. Even as a young girl, Liesel understands that they can be used to harm and heal, and all she wants is to use them for good despite the evil world surrounding her.

Through an embedded narrative structure, juxtaposition, symbolism, and allusion, Markus Zuzak clearly demonstrates how words have the potential to harm and heal. He constructs Liesel – a girl with virtually no power living in the midst of intense warfare – to demonstrate that when used correctly, words have the ability to be manipulated in order to influence people and the community around us. The contrast between Hitler’s and Liesel’s intentions and worldviews shows how words can be used for good or evil, and morphed to harm or heal.