“Here is a small fact - You are going to die” (Zusak 3). So, with these ten small words, begins the reader’s tumultuous relationship with Death, the narrator of Markus Zusak’s novel, “The Book Thief”. In a world where hundreds of pieces of literature have been published in an effort to preserve the memory of Hitler’s Nazi regime and their cruel acts against humanity, “The Book Thief”, with its striking narration, becomes a unique testament to the Holocaust. Death escorts the reader into the hellish realm of Germany during the escalation World War II as he tries to decipher the “beauty and brutality” (Zusak 550) of which human beings are simultaneously capable. Nevertheless, this is not a story about Death; it is about life and so much else. Specifically, it is the story of
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It is unexpected, then, to have Death, the absence of life, fulfilling this role. Death’s narration is complicated with his nonlinear storytelling technique, macabre humour, interludes of historical context, and sporadic character assessments. But it is through the employment of such an unusual and complex narrator that Markus Zusak crosses boundaries of conventionality. With his ability to see the past, present, and future in its totality, Death unveils a more extensive history of World War II; fulfilling Zusak’s intentions of enabling his readers to see “another side of Nazi Germany . . . that lives beneath the propaganda reels that are still so effective decades later,” to see “people who were unwilling to fly the Nazi flag.” (Team). However, this is not just a story about Nazi Germany. By having Death pass pithy comments and giving sardonic soliloquies, it becomes a story about humanity. Zusak, using the employment of such an avant-garde character, paints a poignant portrait providing remarkable insight into the human psyche and how, despite all its atrocities, it still has the capacity to be “so glorious” (Zusak
It is unexpected, then, to have Death, the absence of life, fulfilling this role. Death’s narration is complicated with his nonlinear storytelling technique, macabre humour, interludes of historical context, and sporadic character assessments. But it is through the employment of such an unusual and complex narrator that Markus Zusak crosses boundaries of conventionality. With his ability to see the past, present, and future in its totality, Death unveils a more extensive history of World War II; fulfilling Zusak’s intentions of enabling his readers to see “another side of Nazi Germany . . . that lives beneath the propaganda reels that are still so effective decades later,” to see “people who were unwilling to fly the Nazi flag.” (Team). However, this is not just a story about Nazi Germany. By having Death pass pithy comments and giving sardonic soliloquies, it becomes a story about humanity. Zusak, using the employment of such an avant-garde character, paints a poignant portrait providing remarkable insight into the human psyche and how, despite all its atrocities, it still has the capacity to be “so glorious” (Zusak