The Power of Words – Duuun dun daaaaaa

While reading The Book Thief, I wanted to see what Markus Zusak had to say about the book. Here’s one particular video that I found what he says is very interesting (This is the actual video of the interview that I linked from the first post).

Other than giving me insight into other aspects to the book, the thing that stood out to me in this interview is how he says Liesel is stealing back the words Hitler uses to manipulate citizens. This idea gave me a whole new insight into the whole title.  The Book Thief. Books contains words which in this case are influential.

“She was renowned as the best word shaker … because she knew how powerless a person could be without words” (From max’s book p.446)

At the start of the book words didn’t have much meaning to Liesel because of her inability to read. As she continues to steal books and visit the mayor’s wife’s library, Liesel grows fond of them. Other than Hans,  reading words was one thing that soothes Liesel from her nightmares of her brother. Later on however, Liesel discovers – through the Word Shaker (the book Max gives her) – that using just simply words a man (HITLER) has the power to manipulate a whole country. Learning the power words hold despairs Liesel because something horrible such as propaganda and death can be made from using words in which she loves so much. Ripping the book in Ilsa’s library can be seen as Liesel’s love & hate rrelationship with words. At the end, Liesel unknowingly tries to fight back Hitler’s words with her own by writing her own book to make the words “right”.

” I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right ”  p.528

Illustations from The Book Thief

I started thinking about the world we live in today, and I instantly thought about Malala Yousafzai. She inspires me so much because of how she uses words to create love instead of hatred. She uses her words to captivate and inform people of the flaws some education systems have for female students. As an activists, she uses words to create a better change in the world.

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Words hold a strong power to either hurt or help others. Every day we have the decision to choose how to use our words. We might seem insignificant as Liesel might see herself as at first, but through another person such as Max, we can learn that only one person’s words can make a big impact (Like Malala).

A Mini Hamlet Mime!

Even though Hawke’s version of Hamlet is set in modern times, it’s still as lively as the other versions. Here is a clip from the movie that gave me a different perspective on the characters and the play. (Act I Scene 2)

Ophelia’s note

What I like most about this clip is that even without the secondary characters talking, you still get small hints as to what is happening in the movie. You get a sense of Ophelia’s concern for Hamlet, Laertes’s disapproval of Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet, and Polonius’s suck up attitude toward Claudius (That enthusiastic shout and clap he gives at the end). For some reason after reading the first act, I didn’t get the feeling that Laertes was completely mature. Then in this version where Liev Schreiber /Laertes wears a suit and calmly makes Ophelia listen to Claudius, I saw a caring/mature brother. Another thing that stood out too me is Ophelia’s portrayal as being so innocent. After watching this clip and knowing what happens to her after reading the play, I feel even worse for her. I felt that with her cute note for Hamlet and her following her brother’s order makes her seem more fragile.

Bill Murray as Polonius

Then there’s Polonius’s little glance at Ophelia’s note. Act 3 scene 1 raises many questions about Polonius’s parenting because he let’s Ophelia be humiliated by Hamlet in front of the King. Then, when we watch this scene and see that Polonius is a little curious about the note, I thought he looked quite concerened. However, another implication that can be made from the little act is that Polonius likes prying into Ophelia’s life.

Conferences associated with higher status

One thing that I found quite interesting was the staging. This is supposed to be the first scene where Hamlet is introduced. By making Hawke/Hamlet’s posture gloomy and also making him dress differently from everyone else, the scene effectively delivers the idea that Hamlet starts out pretty depressed. Hawke doesn’t even need to say anything for viewers to get the gist. Another great thing is making this scene modernized into a sort of press conference. This helps viewers who are not as familiar with the play to easily understand the rivalry between Claudius and Fortinbras, as well as understand the position of power Claudius has.

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The staging gave a new and different outlook on this scene. The choice in actors gave me new perspectives on the characters. Above all the little actions that required no words allowed viewers to get a sense of what’s happening in the play. After watching this clip I definitely wanted to watch the whole Hawke version of Hamlet.