The Theme Of Death In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief

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In Markus Zusak's’ “The Book Thief”, he makes Death the narrator. Yes, death takes your loved ones away from you, but Death is not all bad, he has compassion too. “The Book Thief” takes place in Nazi, Germany, while a young girls brother dies, and her parents go missing, and is forced to live in a foster home. Death displays his compassion by showing how attentive he is to Liesel, how his job impacts him, and his obsession with colors. Death assembled Liesel’s fearless encounters, to share with others. But, what started his passion for Liesel was that she is a warrior, and a survivor. Death tells the reader’s how he took Werners life, and the first time he met with Liesel. Death explains the mourning and sorrow he felt for her, because all …show more content…
Death feels so guilty for all the lives he has taken, but he knows it must be done. To manage his emotions, Death occupies himself on the colors he sees in the sky when he has to take another life. Death uses colors as his therapy and looks up at them as he tries to stop thinking about how fe feels, about all the lives he has to take. Death whispers this as “I deliberately seek out the colors my mind off them..”(4). This shows that Death’s interest in the colors, collide with his career, and throws him off track. Because of this, Death is constantly looking for the colors, because of the pain, and guilt he feels. He doesn't only do it when he thinks about the lives he has took, he often does it when he realizes what he is really doing. Death says, looking up at the sky makes his day a little more bearable. He even says “It takes the edge off the stress. It helps me relax”(4). This shows that Death, is always feeling anxious, and needs to cope with his life here and there.
Death says, humans are the reason why he took this job. In the novel, Death shows his human like emotions. Death shows his thoughts by saying how he really feels about his job, the bright, vivid colors in the sky, and his obsession with a girl known as Liesel, he first came across when she was young. When the story is narrated by death it shows the readers, that Death isn’t always trying to cause harm, and they should live their life to the fullest

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