The Book Thief Color Analysis

From start to finish, Death has seen both horrors and wonders. However, in his profession, Death mainly witnesses the horrific parts of life, and he needs the reader to know that he is not immune to the suffering he

Death, the narrator of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is an imperfect character. He certainly has ideals for himself, makes them evident, and strives to fulfill them within the novel. Through the use of foreshadowing in The Book Thief, Markus Zusak, speaking through Death, transforms the reader’s emotional response to events in the book to be similar to Death’s ideal emotional response. This can be supported through examining Death’s ideals, his use of foreshadowing, and their combined effect on the reader’s emotional response to tragic events in the text.

Death is a very well-known figure that is feared by many in all countries. He is suspected of being cruel, disturbing and all synonyms of horrifying. Death is inevitable and that is the most fearing aspect of his persona. In Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Death is made to seem or resemble humans. Effectively using the narration role, Death introduces a unique description and definition of colors in which he uses as a tool to effectively engage the readers to the events occurring throughout the book. He also demonstrates him personal and different experiences as well, mostly about soul gathering and the implications of WWII that have affected him. On the contrary to Death’s dead, appalling and scary nature that many interpret him to be

Each of these events coincides with a particular color that reflects the mood of the moment. Throughout the novel, Death's preoccupation with and study of colors remains a consistent theme. He comments frequently on his inability to understand humans, how they can be so kind and yet still cause so much destruction and suffering; like colors, humans are ever-changing and can also be murky in their behavior. Along with the mood of the humans, the colors often complement the weather, as well as the tone of the events happening during particular chapters. For example, Death emphasizes the color white during the snowy scene in "Beside the Railway Line" when Liesel's brother dies, linking the color back to the weather, thus contributing to the overall

Red, like any other color in this novel, is symbolic, perhaps more so than others. Love and tragedy, though seemingly opposite, are both symbolized by red. On page 12, Zusak says through Death, “The last time I saw her was red.” (Zusak 12) Death is saying this about seeing Liesel Meminger.

What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word death? In most cases, people fear death but as the narrator in Markus Zusak’s novel, The Book Thief, Death is a compassionate and honorable character.

Narration is important in almost any book,  which is why it is especially important in   Mark Zusak’s: The Book Thief.  He uses foreshadowing, perspective, and interaction with the  reader to make the book so much more interesting. Zusak's selection of Death as the narrator heavily changes and alters the way the book is read. Death allows the reader to have a completely new and different perspective of Death itself, he heavily foreshadows very important events in the book, and he interacts with the reader many times throughout the book. By presenting death as the narrator, Zusak provides a more outside and impartial view of humanity’s pain and suffering (Johnson).

Relationship to meaning: Death is important to the story because he provides a detailed explanation of what is going on with all characters and he isn’t bias towards any specific character.

Death. To many, it is the end of life and start of a new beginning from this world, but in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Death is our narrator. He is the one who guides us through the life of a young German girl named Liesel during Nazi Germany. Death manages to see her three times, and soon enough, becomes fascinated by her and the trials she must face in her life. Liesel manages to change Death’s character, surprising him in a way he thought humans never could and changing his viewpoint on them forever.

The acts of human nature can become a very difficult concept to understand. Markus Zusak uses Death throughout the The Book Thief to express the complexity of human nature. Death illustrates how complicated beings humans are and how they hold the capacity to act in both evil and beautiful ways. Throughout the novel Death helps give readers insight to the ignorance displayed and the pain it may cause a person. In the most troublesome and discriminatory times of the Holocaust, Death will point out the beautiful acts of compassion carried out by characters involved in the novel. Sometimes beauty and pain is mixed within the sacrifice some make for those they love and are loyal to.

One of the main characteristics of war is its ability to take away individuals’ feelings of strength. Such individuals will become unable to feel a sense of identity unless they find some source of power, no matter its form may be. The main characters in The Book Thief and Between Shades of Gray use art and literature as a means for empowering themselves within the conflict-ridden setting around them: World War II. The “testimony [of these characters is produced] to create an absolute record, to speak in a world where [their] voices have been extinguished” (Sepetys 338). Liesel, the main character in The Book Thief, and Lina, from Between Shades of Gray, create testimony of their endurances by leaving behind writing and drawings that tell their story to future generations after being forced into silence during their own lifetime.

Black, white, and red are the most important colors in, The Book Thief. I believe that one theme that is repeated shown are these three colors. They are used to visualize different scenarios in the eyes of Death. They help him have a vacation from all the mayhem of murders and work of taking people’s soul. Red, symbolizes the scenario of murder and destruction. White, on the other hand, symbolizes innocence and black, the final color, symbolizes the sadness and mourning.

In Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Zusak uses many rhetorical devices, but perhaps the most prevalent is the colors. They are introduced in the prologue and remain apparent throughout the entirety of the novel. Death says he only uses them to district himself from his taxing job and to define each time he saw the book thief, but the reader can go beyond that and use them to understand the mood and atmosphere of each scene. The first color mentioned is white. Death associates white with Liesel because of the fallen snow when he first sees her at her brother’s funeral.

“Even death has a heart” (Zusak 242). When death comes to mind it is thought of as a state, rather than being a character. In The Book Thief, Death was the narrator; Death explains that dying was not the worst thing that could happen to a person. Death uses symbols to help develop themes. Words have power, war goes further than the battlefield, and sometimes what should be done will cause the most regret are all themes taken from the book.

The Inevitability of Death as Explored Through The Book Thief Death is a central motif in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. Zusak enures the reader comes to term with the inevitability of death through the characterization of Death and by fully utilizing the setting of war. Death, as a narrator, always works to make sure that human mortality is front and center.