Why did Markus Zusak choose Death as the narrator in The Book Thief?
It is possible that Zusak chose a personified Death as the narrator of The Book Thief to comment on the overarching tone of the times. Set during World War II in Germany, the novel explores the lives of characters who are in some way affected by the war. Liesel has lost her parents, Hans is taken in by the army, and Max hides out in the Hubermann's basement. No matter what their situation, death hovers over their every move. The characters remain afraid that death will come for them or one of their loved ones; often the characters see others die or at least see them on their way to death (i.e. the prisoners marching to Dachau). Because death overshadows all the events during this time, it seems appropriate that Death should narrate the story. At the beginning of the novel, Death tells the audience that he does not become involved...
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with the lives of individual humans and simply carries out his job. However, he takes notice of Liesel and narrates her story. This allows the narration to take on a somewhat omniscient role, yet one that is still characterized and sympathetic to the reader.
Why is the narrator's identity as Death significant in The Book Thief?
Throughout The Book Thief, Death is a major character as well as the narrator. Through the personification of Death, author Marcus Zusak makes an abstract concept seem as real as the human characters that populate the novel’s settings. As the narrator, Death has a strong voice and compels the reader to pay attention to their point of view. Death is the most universal and powerful force. It is presented as both omnipresent and omnipotent: no matter where they are, Death is also there, and no one can escape if this force decides it is time to take that person.
The humanlike qualities of Death become especially important in the war-time setting of the novel. The odds of a person dying increase drastically during a war, especially in places that are being attacked by bombs or ground forces. As the narrator, Death is uniquely positioned to describe the havoc that war wreaks. A macabre tone is created by Death’s narrative, as it speaks appreciatively of things that horrify humans, such as the burning buildings.
Death the narrator also seems bizarrely human in appreciating the human characters. The paradox that Death can seem fond of Rudy at one moment and then blithely take his life the next augments the atmosphere of insecurity that characterizes wartime. Death’s humanlike capacity for emotion also can help the reader understand why Death would spare Liesel and Max.
How does Markus Zusak execute death's point of view in The Book Thief?
In The Book Thief, Death is a presence from the very beginning and appears throughout the novel. Although Death is personified in terms of having human-like capabilities including emotions and sometimes performing human actions, the character is not physically described in human form. As the narrator, Death controls the flow of action and the reader’s understanding of the other characters. Because so many deaths are occurring during the war, Death is constantly busy. He has visions of the human souls he takes, including each soul’s color. He is aware of distinctions in the various humans’s reactions and attitudes about whether their time has come.
Markus Zusak handles this characterization with a certain delicacy. Death is not greedy or crass. We do not see Death gloating or claiming victory over those whose lives he takes; rather, he seems to approach the necessity of death, regardless of circumstance, as a learning experience. When someone succeeds in temporarily fighting him off, that person gains his respect. Death takes an interest in some characters, such as Liesl, in part because he knows that she has met glimpsed Death at a young age through the experience of losing her brother.
The vast scale and high frequency of the deaths causes Death some concern. In this respect, the author introduces some humor. Death seems like an overburdened worker who cannot keep up with the accelerating pace, like a speeded-up assembly line. At one point, he complains about the stress, stating that distractions can keep him sane. Death then puts himself in the reader’s position, suggesting that the reader would be asking why Death would need a distraction: “why does he . . . need a vacation”? The humor is moderated by his somber reflections, noting that those who do not die, the “leftovers,” are what make the job hard for him.