The end of the Book Thief

Holy crap! I really really really ridiculously loved the Book Thief. It was probably one of my favorite books of all time. The ending was extremely sad, but also made me feel a little more enlightened. My favorite part of the book was the contradiction of words. Liesel's life was both destroyed and saved by words. The book exemplifies the power that words can have. Hitler rose to power through the use of words. His speeches forced people to believe in him and submit to him. Because Hitler came to power, Liesel lost everything and everyone in her life. All of that because of words.

However, it was also words that saved Liesel's life. Learning to read gave Liesel a reason to live and a way to forget the past. She was able to focus on the present and future rather than the past. Then at the end of the book, her life is saved because she is reading. If she had not been reading her book in the basement during the bombing she would have died along with the rest of her family. This book really stressed the power of words. That they are so powerful they can both give life and take it away. The Book Thief opened my eyes to a lot of new ideas that had never crossed my mind before. One thing is for certain. I will never be able to look at words the same again.