As an innate experience of being human, characterization of death is an element that often permeates many literary works. However, in The Book Thief, Zusak provides a unique lens through which his personification of Death rejects the traditional Grim Reaper trope. While it may be his job to collect the souls of the deceased, Death is no “scythe” wielding, “black robe” wearing entity with “skull-like facial features” (Zusak 307). He “urge(s)” the reader to “trust [him]” for he is nothing if not “amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that’s only the A’s” (Zusak 3). A sentient personality, expressed through witty, reflective asides and statements reconstructs Death’s role as a more humanlike character. Death himself admits the peculiarity of being subject to emotions and frequently talks about his times of …show more content…
Even death has a heart” (Zusak 242). If this statement is true, then he is on the same footing as humans; susceptible to the same foibles; hence, creating a sense of proximity of Death to humans. Death’s sentient personality serves several functions in The Book Thief. Displaying a full spectrum of human emotions, from empathy to frustration, he is no longer the macabre foe the readers have been taught to dread, making him appear more trustworthy and likable as both a narrator and a character. In addition to shaping readers’ impressions of Death’s humanness, this characteristic also sheds light onto Death’s compassion for humans. A brief glimpse of this is evidenced as Death collects the souls of Jews suffocated in the gas chamber: “Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listened to their last, gasping cries. Their
The books in ‘The Book Thief’ symbolized the stages of rebirth in Liesel. When the novel begins Zusak describes Liesel as a scared little girl he shows this by saying “The fact was this: Liesel would not get out of the car” (Zusak 35) While reading through ‘The Book Thief’ you can spot slight differences in Liesel through each ‘book’, which may go unnoticed. This can be shown if you compare Liesel in the first ‘book’ to Liesel in the last ‘book’. For example, Liesel in the final ‘book’ was a lot braver than when she was in the first ‘book’. Zusak shows this when Liesel approached Max when he was being paraded through Molching. She approached him and cried with him, even with several people watching their every move. (Zusak, 515) The differences
The setting for The Book thief could be an unhappy, bleak neighborhood on Himmel Street. Himmel Street is found within the fictional city of Molching, Germany. Per the novel Molching was placed on the point of Munich, Germany. The story starts in 1939 at the start of war II and also the story continues on into the war years. Nine-year-old Liesel Meminger lives within the deserted neighborhood. As all of the someone, folks are gone and their stores, homes, and neighborhoods are burned to the bottom. The Huberman's square measure suffering and troubled to form ends meet. Rosa will laundry and Hans could be a painter.
“When I got down out of the tree I crept along down the river-bank a piece, and found two bodies laying in the edge of the water, and tugged at them till I got ashore; then I covered up their faces, and got away as quick as I could. I cried a little when I was covering up Buck’s face, for he was mighty good to me.” (Twain, 148) Death. A topic that every single human, animal, and plant has to face with in some point of their life or at the end. But, when you really think about this subject what do you assume people associate with. Fear. Hell or Heaven. The end of a crossroad. Whatever you associate with people have brought their own interpretation of the concept. Two interesting interpretations of death comes from Mark Twain’s book, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and Sylvia Plath’s poem “I am Vertical”.
Death closes the novel by saying he is haunted by humans. The irony of the statement is profound as typically humans are haunted by death. The thoughts of Death throughout the novel reveal his innermost feelings toward the human race and create a large amount of sympathy for him. The cruelness of the human race was evident in Nazi Germany with the severe loss of life of all people. Death does not understand this cruelness. Sympathy is created by Death's questioning of a higher being and why the brutality has not been
The Book Thief is written by Markus Zusak and in the book there is a man named Hans Hubermann and he is the father that decides to hide a Jew named Max in his basement. In this story Hans is a fool for deciding to hide a Jew in his basement in 1940’s Germany. Hans lives in the small town of Molching, which is close to Munich and the Nazi party is taking over the city. Hans faces a problem of hiding Max which is the child of a friend that Hans met in World War I.
It is very impressive how Zusak’s writing can cause the reader to associate Death with almost a human-like nature. Zusak makes Death less harsh and shows the reader that it even has emotions and a personality. The way people can compare so many things to themselves is a very important detail that contributes to the character of the human race.
The Character of death is given human qualities and characteristics personifies by nearly every other character in the story. The first example occurred when the little boy had told them "last night, the man was slain, upon his bench, face up, dead drunk again. There came a privy thief, they call him Death, Who kills us all round here, and in a breath He speared his through the heart". (Line 65-68). Personification and Irony are used throughout Geoffrey Chaucer's story "The Pardoners Tale". Death is made to seem like a real person too us. Also in example two, the publican joined in on the conversation and also added a warning on how many people have been killed around the village as if he were a serial killer on a loose rampage going around
Throughout the book, Zusak uses foreshadowing to show mortality. Death, the narrator, constantly suggests – or blatantly states – that someone will die. Some of Death’s first words in the novel remind readers that they “are going to die” (Zusak 3). Zusak even titles one of the chapters “The End of the World” (Zusak 495). In both of these instances, Death directly states the truth of morality. In the second example, he suggests deaths of characters. Given these points, the audience recognises a theme of impermanence.
In the Book Thief, Markus Zusak the author uses symbolism to show how we look for a comfort that can either distract, or guide ourselves through overwhelming and/or scary times. Page five of the Book Thief, Death says “I vacation in increments. In colors. ”
Collins classifies Death as someone who the audience would evidently fear when he begins the poem by asking, “is Death miles away from this house?” (1). This gives readers the impression that death is everywhere. Shadowing this, the author reintroduces Death over and over to suggest that he is an actual
Death gives experience to the reader which in a way he can either tell or relate to the characters in the Book Thief. In addition to this , Death is an Omniscient First-person narrator. It's confusing because he sometimes refers to himself as I or talks to the reader. With this type of narration , Death can intervene and decide to take the souls of peoples. Most of the events take place in the town of Molching , with Death occasionally stepping in to provide relevant background Information about key characters. In the Book Thief , the first quote (pg.307) from Death . and he says " You really want to know what I look like? Find yourself a mirror while I continue". In this quote , Death directly speaks to the reader which he does so often. This quote is from the part "Deaths Diary". When he recommends us that the reader look in the mirror , he is reminding us that human kind is what caused the destruction. In World War 2 , Death is feeling irritable. Death is likewise crotchety (meaning bad-tempered or grumpy) in light of the fact that he feels misunderstood. He notes that the reaper image of a robe and sickle is mistaken. Deaths calls out the he looks just like us. The second quote (pg.550) " I am haunted by humans. How they can be so ugly and
“Here is a small fact: You are going to die”(Zusak 3). The Book Thief, a historical fiction book by Markus Zusak, is narrated by Death. The novel takes place during the 1930’s and 40’s in Nazi Germany and follows 9 year old Liesel Meminger, who death refers to as “The Book Thief.” After her father, mother, and then brother are killed, Liesel becomes an orphan and is taken in by Hans and Rosa Hubermann in Molching. Throughout the book, she meets many people including the Mayor’s wife, Isla Hermann, and Max Vandenburg, a Jew who is hiding from the Nazi’s in the Hubermann’s basement. Although Liesel’s life is filled with death and loss, she ends up surviving an air raid on her street and after the war, she is reunited with Max who survived the Nazi death camp.
As time evolves, so do the words that are essential for our everyday survival. The most obvious difference between humans and animals is our ability to master the art of speech. Often, people will say the “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, a simple nursery rhyme that helps ease a bullied child from abusive words and taunts. But does that really help cure the emotional pain? Words can illuminate and motivate the minds of people but can also shadow their self-esteem through psychological trauma. In The Book Thief, we see how fundamental words were to shape the reality of millions of people caught in the fire of World War II.
Death is always an interesting topic for discussion. Individuals will respond differently to it emotionally and physically. Some will see it as a nuisance and attempt to remain as busy as they can to not think of it but once death catches up to us we hope and pray that there is an afterlife where we can continue living. Others will do anything in their power to fight against it and make sure that they live their life to the fullest. These individuals are determined to leave some trace of them behind before it is too late. There are a few individuals who find the beauty in death. As if death is all around us and we simply need to take the time to look at it. In any case death is something we will encounter and in Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, Thomas’s, “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”, and Seuss’s “Still-Life with Turkey” we are shown these different viewpoints in very different and unique ways.
The Book Thief , is a fictional novel by Markus Zusak that takes place in Molching, Germany during the Holocaust. The book is narrated by death and the author uses the bold face technique to foreshadow what is going to come in the near future. This is a great way to include messages that suggest later occurrences , and to use certain words to symbolize a big theme or how a character feels. Death also uses colors to represent how people die. He also tells the story of a girl called Liesel Meminger who is going to a town where she meets her foster parents, Rosa Hubermann and Hans Hubermann. He’s consistently there to help her learn to read and write and is at her side when she