Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Essays about death
We all see things differently depending on our perspective. That may be the only viewpoint we get without somebody else’s opinion. Markus Zusak shows us an interesting view on Death in his novel, The Book Thief. The Book Thief is a story of a young girl, Liesel, who grows up in Nazi Germany, narrated by Death. Death does not usually have a voice, and it is interesting that Zusak chooses Death as the narrator. Throughout the book, Death interrupts to give us background information, little details, or often the blunt truth. One of Zusak’s purposes in The Book Thief is to show a new perspective of Death, and how he may be different than how we expected. One way Zusak does this is by giving Death feelings. We normally see Death from the …show more content…
Death knows his job is never ending. He always has somewhere to be, and his work can literally pile up. At one point in the book Death says, “They say that war is Death’s best friend, but I offer you a different point of view on that one. To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible. . . You get the job done. The boss, however, does not thank you. He asks for more” (Zusak 309). This is significant because Death does not like war, or even death because of the work it creates for him. Because of this, Death always has work to do, and does not always enjoy it. Markus Zusak said in an interview, “. . .that gave me the idea that Death is weary, he's fatigued, and he's haunted by what he sees humans do to each other because he's on hand for all of our great miseries” (npa n.p.). This quote from Zusak himself shows us that Death is worn out from everything he has seen. He has seen his fair share of tragedy. He has picked up countless people. In the end, his job really is never …show more content…
Death is only in the world for a short time, while he picks up the souls of people who have died. He says that he should not linger in the world, meaning that he is not from or a part of the world. Death even says, “I am a result” (Zusak 6). Death is saying that he does not cause the person to die. He comes afterward, to pick them up. Humans can make his job harder by killing more people. In the novel, we see Death going to many places to clean up because of World War II. An example of this would be when Death is talking about his constant trips around the world and how some time he has even more to do. “But sometimes the human race likes to crank things up a little. They increase the production of bodies and their escaping souls” (Zusak 308). This quote is important because Death explains that it is the humans who are killing each other, and how they make more work for him. When more people are killed, Death has to make another trip to get them. Therefore, Death has to clean up after the human race yet again.
One reason Markus Zusak wrote The Book Thief is to convey Death in a new way. He does this by giving Death unexpected emotions, where he can be sad about taking someone away. Death also does not like his job, and cleans up after the world. Zusak showed us a new perspective on Death, but also showed that you can make wrong assumptions about someone without hearing what they think. To sum
In line five of the poem a metaphor is used comparing rest with pictures. The line is “From rest and sleep,which but thy pictures be.” Meaning that the rest and sleep are pale imitations, and Death is the real thing. Basically death is only a stronger version of sleep, and not something scary or even different. In The Book Thief positive metaphors are used. An example, is “Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver. Upon seeing those eyes, understood that Hans Hubermann was worth a lot. “This metaphor means that death can also see, and care about situations that humans are in. Death could have teased kindness but he did not because the author wanted to show his
As a natural phenomena that occurs frequently yet is still not completely understood, death has confounded and, to a certain degree, fascinated all of humanity. Since the dawn of our species, people have tried rationalize death by means of creating various religions and even attempted to conquer death, leading to great works of literature such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Cannibal Spell For King Unis.
"I am a result," claims Markus Zusak's Death in his novel The Book Thief (Zusak 8). This state of being for the persona commonly seen as malicious and destructive provides a good view of the unique image of Death presented in the novel. Far from the scythe toting, black hooded robe wearing Death of culture's common perception, the Death here is amiable, affable, and agreeable (1). He poses to the readers wishing to find out what he truly looks like to "find [themselves] a mirror" while he continues to narrate the tale. The being here hold much more of a resemblance to a beleaguered old man with an exhaustible deep supply of dry gallows humor. He is not taking joy in the deaths of humanity, or even causing them. He is the result of our dying. Someone (not just something) to clean up the mess we leave behind. And after millenia of witnessing humans at their best and worst, Death has developed a special love for them.
Words hold great power and when used correctly can influence what people believe and how they act.
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.
“Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness” (84). In the beginning, we are introduced to the narrator by the name of Death. He informs the readers that he has many stories, but only remembers the ones that interest him. The tale of Liesel Meminger is one such tale, as he was always fascinated by her will to live through the most horrible instances. It should be duly noted however, that this story does not have a happy ending. Death makes this clear before we even have a chance to get our hopes up. He tells us that everyone dies; the amount of time that they last is truly the only difference. After this sordid fact is in place, he mentions just Liesel first attracted his attention.
Throughout the novel death is portrayed as normal, something not too worry about. An example of this is shown when the director takes the students through the facility, “Bernard, whispering, made an appointment with the Headmistress for that very evening, ‘from the Slough Crematorium. Death conditioning begins at eighteen months. Every tot spends two mornings a week in a Hospital for the Dying. All the best toys are kept there, and they get chocolate cream on death days. They learn to take dying as a matter of course’”(109). The portray death to children as relaxing and fun so they do not fear or get sad about deaths of a loved one. Another example of this is shown when the director talks about how everyone dies when they are sixty. The world state does this because when the are sixty they do not want to work or play their expensive games. During their life the always look you, they are fit, and healthy. The people in the world state see not having too grow old as a luxury. They see the elderly as gross, fat, disgusting creatures with growths and blemishes. Both of these views are highly contrasted with what the concepts of love and marriage are like in the world today. People view death as a new beginning. We believe that when we die our spirits go on into either heaven or hell based on our actions. This makes us strive to do good in the world so we would be compensated for our actions. Another example is that People view old age. As children we are taught to love and respect the elderly because the give the next generation values and morals to help guide their lives. We all honor the elderly with medical assistance and holidays made to celebrate
In The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, beauty and brutality is seen in many of the characters. Rudy, Liesel, and Rosa display examples of beauty and brutality often without realizing what exactly they are doing, because it is a part of their human nature. Zusak not only uses his characters, but also the setting of the novel in Nazi Germany to allude to his theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature. The time in which the novel is set, during World War II, displays great examples of beauty and brutality, such as the mistreatment of the Jews. As a result of this time period, the characters have to go through troubling times, which reveals their beautiful and brutal nature in certain circumstances. Zusak uses his characters and their experiences to demonstrate the theme of the beauty and brutality of human nature in the novel.
The act of dying is quite simplistic, whereas the concept of death is overly complex. For this reason, it is a common theme for novels and articles to include. Death is not only inevitable, but it is also relatable. Almost everyone will experience the death of another person, pet or plant. So, incorporating some variation of that within a text will instantly give a connection to its readers. Of course, the perused death may be sorrowful, but it is often the emotions and reactions from spectator that intrigue readers. This is because it is typically the characters who have witnessed a death that advance a story’s plot. However, the prime exception to this is when there is a death from within a character—when a piece of someone’s identity dies. Incidentally, George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eight-Four exhibits both of these
“Death is the greatest gift you never want to receive. It is the great equalizer of mankind. For death knows no name, no race, no social class or status. It is the only way man to enjoy a meaningful existence. For if there were no death, there would be no meaning” by Dan McDaniel. In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Death is consistent throughout the book. Death is found throughout the book as an equalizer, it shows that despite people's thoughts that they are better than one another, or that they will not die until they believe that they are ready, however, that is wrong. Death, in this book, does not discriminate, does not wait, and does not care about human-made hierarchies.
Throughout the book, Death is seen as someone who is distraught and horrified of humanity’s inner workings. An example of this is when Death talks of the war and how he had to get through it. He says, “To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible. He stands over your shoulder repeating one thing, incessantly: ‘Get it done, get it done.’ So you work harder. You get the job done” (309). Death is being pushed to the limit by the war. It “is like the new boss who expects the impossible.” The unrealistic expectations force Death to “work harder.” He overworks himself and becomes extremely tired and exhausted by the time he got “the job done.” By speaking “incessantly”, war is constantly telling Death to get the job done. The continual work and pressure makes him overwork. Death is continually exhausted by the wars in which he has to participate in. He doesn’t enjoy the horrid acts that humanity commits. He uses the kindness of humanity as a way to redeem the negative qualities that destroy it. An example of this is towards the end of the book, when Death is with Liesel, thinking, “I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant....I am haunted by humans” (550). Humanity extremely confuses Death. He doesn’t understand how it can be “so ugly and so glorious” at the same time. In this case, “the same thing” he
People say the mind is a very complex thing. The mind gives people different interpretations of events and situations. A person state of mind can lead to a death of another person. As we all know death is all around us in movies, plays, and stories. The best stories that survive throughout time involve death in one form or another. For example, William Shakespeare is considered as one of the greatest writers in literary history known for having written a lot of stories concerning death like Macbeth or Julius Caesar. The topic of death in stories keeps people intrigued and on the edge of their seats. Edgar Allan Poe wrote two compelling stories that deal with death “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Raven.” In “The
He begins by looking at the very common views of death that are held by most people in the world, and tells us that he will talk of death as the "unequivocal and permanent end to our existence" and look directly at the nature of death itself (1). The first view that
To help understand the significance of death to Heidegger it is important to look at his original work on being or existence. Firstly Heidegger states the objective of his existentialist work in Being and Time is ‘to work out the question of the sense of being and do so concretely’ (Being and Time, pge 1, 1978). Heidegger made this so as a response to contemp...
Death is something that causes fear in many peoples lives. People will typically try to avoid the conversation of death at all cost. The word itself tends to freak people out. The thought of death is far beyond any living person’s grasp. When people that are living think about the concept of death, their minds go to many different places. Death is a thing that causes pain in peoples lives, but can also be a blessing.