The Meaning Of Death In The Book Thief

After reading and scrutinizing The Book Thief, one can see that bread, the accordion, and books, the three main symbols used in the novel, are indispensable to the merriment of the book. To add information, these three symbols all represent different things, actions, and people, but can all be compared and contrasted. Three different ways that these emblems can be compared and contrasted is by looking at what they represent, why they represent it, and the reasoning behind why the author used that specific symbol.

The Book Thief is a historical fiction novel by Markus Zusak set in Munich, Germany during the Nazi reign from 1936-1943. The novel incorporates a main character that is, in the beginning, an innocent child who doesn't understand the world and takes her on a journey where she grows up and matures through the hardships and challenges of her life. The story is narrated by the character Death, who is a fresh take on the Grim Reaper, only wearing the black cloak when it's cold and never carries a syte. Death describes the life Liesel Meminger, an orphaned girl who witnesses her brother's death and burial and finds herself being adopted by the benevolent old couple, the Hubermanns. The rest of the story follows Liesel's journey through her incredibly challenging life with the Hubermanns and characters such as Rudy, The mayor's wife, and Max helping her along. Symbolism in The Book Thief deepens the story by conveying many different ideas and emotions that supports the reader's understanding of the story. This is especially apparent with the use of the gravediggers to help the reader remember characters, the use of color to help the reader feel the proper emotions and remember the correct events, and the use of Liesel's changing feelings about Rudy to convey how Liesel grows and matures through the book.

Death is the narrator. He is fascinated by humans and the colors of the world, but he struggles throughout the novel to figure out how humans are capable of so much ugliness and so much beauty. Death has real feelings,you can see him experience both sadness and joy. He even gets depressed.Death often provides humorous, or dark quotes. having death to narrate the book thief, foreshadows the book. Death is this mean character that kills people. He is sometimes nice and helps.He lists the main elements of the story, and reveals that he has seen the main character, the book thief, three times. The first time he saw her was on a train where he had come to collect the soul of a small boy. The book thief watched him take the boy with tears frozen

What is the Grim Reaper? Who is Death in The Book Thief? Both of these figures have things that make them alike and things that make them unique. Some similarities between the personas of both are that both of their roles were to collect the souls of the dead, they were both personified in many different ways and both could never be fully human. As much as the characters are similar to each other, there are quite a few things that make themselves unique. One is that Death acts as a person even though he could never actually be a person. He can convey emotions such as sympathy, pain and anger which are shown throughout the first part of the novel. Also, Death is only around to collect the souls of those readily to die, whereas Grim Reaper hunts down the souls of innocent people and takes their life. “...The boy’s spirit was soft and cold, like ice cream. He started melting in my arms. …” (pg. 21)

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

Although Death is set in his ways, as the book progresses, the people and the events that happen around him manage to change his view. This is shown when Death tries to distract himself with the colors of the sky but always finds himself looking at the human survivors. “It’s the leftover humans … the ones I can’t stand to look at, although on many occasions I still fail” (Zusak, 5). Something about them fascinates him. How, in spite of the fact that they have been “left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise” (Zusak, 5), they still manage to live their lives and move forward. As a supersensual being so used to death,

Hope is elusive and one needs courage to ensure it does not fly away. In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak develops the theme of courage and hope throughout the novel, showing people need both to survive. He portrays the theme effectively through the characterization of Liesel as well as the symbolism of Hans Hubermann’s accordion.

“It is 1939, Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.” In the Book Thief by Markus Zusak, the narrator death is haunted by humans. He revisits history, gets into the heart and minds of the characters, gives small hints of events to come and has an opinion all in the quest to reconcile humanity’s capability to do evil with humanity’s capability to do good.

It’s interesting to see Death’s perspective and view on humans change throughout the book. At the beginning, it was almost sarcastic or lighthearted but at the end it realizes how terrible the human race actually is. “I am haunted by the humans” was the last line of the novel and it is such a hard hitting sentence (Zuask 550).

In history, art has been known as a production of works for emotional power. Art is formed by artists who have a story to share. It is used to express a deep emotion they cannot quite put into words, for example, sorrow or grief. Throughout the novel, Markus Zusak shows people distracting themselves from desperate times of sorrow through art. The use of art in The Book Thief represents creative outlets used as a coping mechanism for each character. The forms of art in the midst of pain are an accordion, a sketchbook, and books. To someone who were to pick up one of these items wouldn’t see much importance but to the main characters, they are what keeps them inspired and hopeful during the catastrophic events caused by Hitler.

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).

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.

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.

Part One: Compare and contrast this persona of Death with the familiar personification of the Grim Reaper. How is Death from The Book Thief like the Grim Reaper, and how is he significantly different?

The narrator, Death, attempts to shed some light on his form through this quote. He is usually imagined as a skeletal figure wearing a black cloak and carrying a scythe, though he shows that he is much more human that we think.