so that he goes out of his way to recover her memoir from the wreckage of her home after it is bombed. The novel's point of view helps to lend a mythic overlay to the narrative and reinforces the implicit notion that Liesel is a very special character.

The first person narrator, Death, makes it seem like a third person narration with Liesel, allowing the reader distance from the main character and a unique perspective on war.

The narrator of the book is Death.  This is an unusual enough concept, and it allows distance from the main events of the book.  For the parts of the book where Liesel, the real main character, is described, we have essentially a third person omniscient narrator because Death, being basically immortal and all knowing, is essentially omniscient.  Because Death found Liesel’s book, he knows essentially what she was thinking and feeling.

Death provides us with interludes of his own “life” during World War II, providing us with the backdrop of the Holocaust and the War.  He also tells the story out of order, going back and forth in an order that makes sense to him.  This allows for foreshadowing for main events, such as the bombing of Himmel Street, and creates emotional tension.

Yes, the sky was now a devastating, home-cooked red. The small German town had been flung apart one more time.  Snowflakes of ash fell so lovelily you were tempted to stretch out your tongue to catch them, taste them.   (The Flag)

When the story focuses in on Liesel, as it does most of the time, the narration is a typical third person omniscient style.  The reader remembers that Death is telling us the story, because he occasionally makes humorously poignant comments.  His style is touching and warm, and very human for such an otherworldly narrator.  Never was there such a third person omniscient first person narrator!  He tells another person’s story with loving grace, because although he is death, it means something to him.

 I traveled the globe as always, handing souls to the conveyor belt of eternity.  … Several times, I warned myself that I should keep a good distance from the burial of Liesel Meminger’s brother. I did not heed my advice. (Arrival on Himmel Street)

Liesel touched him that day, when he saw her brother die.  It was a connection that he somehow maintained.  In this book, we do not see the Grim Reaper or a cool, detached version of death, or even a scary one.  He is more like an overworked postman, delivering souls.  He thinks in imagery, and dreams about chocolate.  All the time, he is captivated by the people he meets, and, ironically, haunted by them.

This vision of the events completely changes how we see them.  Because we know what will happen, and because we get things out of order and colored by Death's immortality, we have a different picture painted by us.  Death gives us a gift.  We get a different kind of war book, and a completely unique version of the Holocaust.

This book has a very unique narrator, Death, and he is all-knowing.  This makes Death a third-person omniscient narrator.  However, he does speak of himself in the first person, so he plays a role in the story.  This also makes the narrator a first-person narrator in terms of himself, and a third-person omniscient narrator in terms of the other characters.  It's a rather unique mix that makes for an interesting story.  If you were to combine the two, he would be a hybrid:  an all-knowing first-person narrator, if there is such a thing.  He also throws elements of a second-person narrator in, because he does directly address the audience; he says things like "You will wonder who I am and why I am here."  He isn't a direct character in the book, so isn't a straight-up first-person narrator.  He knows all of the events of the characters' lives and describes them using "he" and "she," so in that sense he is an omniscient third-person narrator.

To simplify:  Death is a third-person omniscient narrator who possesses slight traits of a first-person narrator, since he is sort-of a character in the story's events itself.  I hope that helped a bit; good luck!

Besides being incredibly inventive, making the specific choice to use Death as the narrator in The Book Thief allows for the novel to unconventionally take the readers through the story (and back again). Using Death to narrate means that the story's plot can move in a non-linear fashion, can change setting spontaneously, and can provide intimate details about characters that only an omniscient narrator can.

Death informs readers early on that many of the characters die; as Death, the narrator reminds us that life inevitably comes to an end, but the effect of each character's death leaves such an impact on him that he must carefully tell their story. While initially spoiling the ending is thought of as disappointing, as readers work through the novel they begin to think like the narrator to understand why Liesel's, Rudy's, Hans', Rosa's, etc., journeys are so important to share. Since readers already "know" the fate of the characters, having a traditional plot line is not as important; as Death moves about from place to place and through time collecting souls, Death therefore becomes the best mouthpiece to tell the story in this nonlinear way.

Because Death is a named omniscient narrator (as opposed to an unknown omniscient narrator), we know that Death must travel the world to find people at the end of their lives–this sets up Death's ability to change the setting of the story through space and time to connect the lives of Liesel's and Max's. Death can come back to the same point in time (e.g., hint at the character's death at the end of the story) and can shift from location to location (e.g., move from Himmel Street with Liesel and the Hubermanns to Max on the run).

One last pro about using Death as a narrator is that Death can peek into the minds and actions of the characters; in this way, Death can seem detached from the action as if Death is zoomed out in a camera but also speak as if Death is in the mind of a character. Readers are therefore able to "see" the scenes from many perspectives or from only one. Because Death is not human, Death can also create a distinct relationship from the reader, as one "haunted by humans" Death can take the time to marvel at the oddities of human life, yet simultaneously seem understanding as Death has seen it all.

Two distinct points of view that are often used in fiction are first person and third person. The Book Thief uses a first-person narrator, who is Death. In first-person point of view, the narrator speaks from their personal perspective, using the pronoun “I" and is often involved in the story they are telling. This narrator may or may not reveal their identity. In third-person narrative, the narrator does not personally self-identify and is not involved in the action. This type of narrator is usually not named.

Author Marcus Zusak’s choice to use Death as the narrator has two primary effects. The first is to introduce a character who mainly serves as the antagonist to Liesel as the protagonist. Death declares early in the novel that they have developed a strong interest in Liesel. The reader can then follow Death’s pursuit of the girl and root for the intended prey to escape her hunter; however, Death’s ambivalence about taking her life also makes the reader somewhat sympathetic for Death.

The second effect is to make the natural, inescapable fact of death seem personal. Together, these effects draw the reader into Liesel’s life and heighten their awareness of her as an individual, and by extension, the individuality of all those who died or suffered during the war.

An example of Death using first person (p. 14):

I would watch the places where we intersect, and marvel at what the girl saw and how she survived.

A third-person version might read:

The girl went many places where she was close to death. It was marvelous what she saw and how she survived.