Death In The Book Thief

It can be found as being ironic when an author uses death to narrate a book who tells the story of a character's life. Markus Zusak was able to take a rather less desirable aspect of life and turn it into a character, Death, who tells his story as well as the story of the protagonist, Liesel Meminger. His familiarity with Liesel's life enables Death to tell tales of her as a result of his fascination with her. Through the novel, he expresses the hardships that come with his deadly duties, and lastly, the three tragic times where Death encounters "The Book Thief". As she understands the book, she is able to make connections between the book and reality. Otherwise, she is unable to conclude without the insight he provides. In The Book Thief,

Death, as the narrator, is able to share the personal thoughts of characters such as Max and Liesel. He indirectly gives answers and hints to what has just developed in the book, but he also gets her involved by giving the characters' emotions and using at what will happen next. This is evident when Death describes Liesel's thoughts as she kisses Rudy: "He tasted dusty and sweet. He tasted like regret in the shadows of trees and in the glow of the anarchist's suit collection. She kissed him long and soft" (Zusak 536). Death describes this to show the reader how Liesel describes the taste of Rudy's lips. With the new information, she is able to make conclusions to questions like "If Liesel and Rudy do kiss what will it be like?". Being able to make conclusions like this not only gives the reader satisfaction but enhances her understanding of the characters' thoughts and emotions which are intriguing concepts to most active readers. In the novel, Death also expresses Max's thoughts toward the Hubermanns helping him: "Thank you. For Max Vandenberg, those were the two most pitiful words he could possibly say, rivaled by I'm sorry. There was a constant urge to speak both expression" (208). At this point in the novel, Max is living with the Hubermanns, Liesel's foster family, and is feeling guilty. Because Max cannot afford to

Death is a major part of this because he is the taker of souls. As death narrates in the beginning of the book he gives an explanation of who he is and later on tells the reader he is in all of us:

"I am all bluster-

I am not violent.

I am not malicious.

I am a result." (6).

Death wants the reader to know he is not evil or devil like he just has a job to do. Eventually, she will need Death to come and find her to take her soul away too. like Death said, he was the result everyone will endure and sees for themselves. Taken as a whole, Death has human-like characteristics that he uses to help convey his nature of being which enhances the story because it makes him relatable and humane.

The omniscient narrator known as Death in The Book Thief gives great enhancements to the reader's experience. Through the novel, the reader is able to learn and develop as an active reader which helps them to continue to grasp new developments as they emerge. He enriches the reading experience by sharing the personal thoughts of the characters, and his expressive views of the setting during the book from tiny details about the Hubermanns' life, to real-time stories of events in the past as well as those yet to come. Finally, Death is ironically portrayed as a humane