The Book Thief By Markus Zusak

The Death developed in The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, is a highly complex and dynamic character. Zusak’s Death does not fit the traditional interpretation of death, because he does not enjoy the pain humans experience. This characterization is evident through the statement the narrator, Death, makes after the deaths of countless French Jews in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Death confesses to the readers, “Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born...I watched their love visions and freed them from their fear” (Zuzak 350). Here, it is apparent that Death dislikes human suffering because he takes the human souls to an afterlife, which frees the humans of their torturous life at …show more content…
Zusak writes, “I wanted to stop. To crouch down. I wanted to say ‘I’m sorry child.’ But that is not allowed” (Zusak 13). Death tells the readers that he wanted to calm Liesel down, but does not do so because he is not allowed to with his job. The kindness of Death is evident since Death cared for Liesel and wanted to help her understand what was happening to her town. In addition to this, Zusak also personifies the narrator as compassionate. An example of this occurs after Death foreshadows the death of Rudy Steiner, as even Death is hurt by the young boy’s mortality. Death tells readers, “taking a boy like Rudy was robbery-- so much life, so much to live for” (Zuzak 242). The empathetic character of Death is evident in this quote since Death believes Rudy did not deserve his harsh fate. The metaphor of comparing Rudy’s death to a theft reveals Death’s compassionate feelings, because Death believes Rudy’s life was unfairly taken away. Throughout the novel, Death experiences tragic moments in the lives of certain individuals, which allow him to conclude that he is “haunted by humans” (Zusak