The Guilt In The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

A book written about a historical tragedy with a narrator who is stereotyped as a counteractive figure is very abnormal. The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, is a historical fiction novel with Death as the narrator. The general idea that Death as a character would not have any guilt or shame towards the deaths of people is inaccurate in this story. In this particular narration, Zusak gives Death the personality of a regular human. Survivor's guilt is the feeling of guilt for having survived a catastrophe in which others died. Although it seems the narrator doesn't experience any guilt as he watches the humans die, but along with the descriptions of his feelings, Death does show survivor’s guilt. Death constitutes survivor’s guilt because …show more content…
While Death is wandering through the destruction sites, he explains that he will never shake the images away from his memories. “They harass my memory. I see them tall in their heaps, all mounted on top of each other” (Zusak 309). This passage of the novel shows how Death cannot get rid of humans from his memory. As he travels through streets of the unfortunate, he can see all of the death that humans have started, but he has finished. Continuing through the story, this idea is expressed more, as Death is explaining that death is coming among them. The description of this gruesome act already describes how Death does experience survivor’s guilt. As he strides through the destruction, he can’t help but feel guilt towards the people who have suffered. “[Rudy] does something to me, that boy. Every time. It’s his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry” (Zusak 531). During the event where Rudy died, Death tells how he is crushed by everything Rudy has done, and how he has to leave like this. When Death says that Rudy stepped on his heart and made him cry, it truly shows that Death feels survivor’s guilt. He is devastated by the death of Rudy, and how he has to leave like this, which shows why Death feels guilty of why Rudy was chosen to die, and not survive. Because of these emotions Death feels, it …show more content…
One reason why Death is constantly tired of his job is because he is frustrated by the amount of work that he is forced to do. “I complain internally as I go about my work, and some years, the souls and bodies don’t add up; they multiply” (Zusak 308). As the lives of humans multiply occasionally, it builds up on why Death is unwilling to continue his job. But he knows he has to continue, because there is no one else that will take over his job. The more souls there are to collect, the more chaotic everything becomes, which leads to why Death isn’t controlling his job anymore, but rather, his job is controlling him. “It brought the war closer to Himmel Street, it dragged me along for the ride” (Zusak 308). This shows that during the war period, Death is not in control of his job anymore, but the job is in control of him. As the evidence stated, the war dragged Death not the other way around. It shows how the more the war demands of the death of humans, the more Death is pushed to his controlling limits. That eventually leads to him to follow the escalating percentage of death and the spread of the war. As death is spreading throughout, it makes Death comprehend and express empathy towards the “poor souls” that have been caught in the path of war. In conclusion, with the rapid spread of war throughout the world, Death has expressed guilt towards the people