Summary and Analysis
Part 10: The Book Thief:
Way of the Words
Summary
The Jews are marched through Molching again. Liesel looks for Max's twig-like hair and finds him. He, too, is searching the crowd for her. She enters the tide of Jews and walks with him, holds onto his arm. Soon, a soldier sees her. He pushes her out of the parade and tells her to stay away, but Liesel doesn't listen. She enters again and calls out for Max. He stops. She gives him his words, the words from his story, The Word Shaker. She touches his beard and he kisses her hand. She wants him to remember how he used to fight the Führer. Max is whipped. And so is Liesel. Rudy rescues her from the street, but Liesel goes after Max again. Rudy tackles her and pins her to the ground.
Analysis
Just as Hans once ran out into a parade of Jews, Liesel now does the same, but this time it is for Max. She also fulfills much of the fable that Max wrote in The Word Shaker. She uses words to help Max remember how he's a fighter and how one girl's words can help change a nation. She holds him up with her words and with her actions, and even when the soldier comes to whip them both, she remains strong.