The Theme Of Death In The Book Thief

Improved Essays
Everyone feels the pain of Death. People have loved ones that die. Death isn’t usually something people think of as positive. Death in The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak, transfers souls into afterlife, in Germany, 1940’s. Death is kind to humans demonstrated in the way he doesn’t enjoy his job, the way he cares for souls, and the way he cares for liesel.
Death is kind to humans demonstrated in the way he doesn’t enjoy his job. In “The Book Thief,” it says, “Which has prompted me to make a conscious, deliberate decision -- to make distraction my vacation.” (5). This shows Death is kind to humans because if he really liked his job and enjoyed it, he wouldn’t be desperate for a vacation. Him having a vacation wouldn’t be that big of a deal. He
…show more content…
In the story, Death takes care of the souls that he transfers. This was after the bombing on Himmel Street. “The Book Thief,” it says, “Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listened to their last, gasping cries, Their vanishing words. I watched their love visions and freed them from their fear.” This relates to he cares for souls because this shows how precious Death is with them. If he didn’t care he wouldn’t be so gentle and kiss them and pay attention to them. He treats them as if he was their mother and they are his newborn kids. Death portrays himself as if he loves them. He makes sure they aren’t mistreated when they’re with him. Liesel's brother Max died and Death was taking care of his soul. In “The Book Thief,” it also says, “It was exactly when I knelt down and extracted his soul, holding it limply in my swollen arms.” (21). This shows Death is kind to humans because he was holding Liesel’s brother’s soul Werner before he let it go because he actually cared and he didn't feel like it was right so he held it so he didn't have to feel as bad. He doesn't like his job so when he does have to do it, he tries to be gentle and

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Did you know, that most of stories will have a protagonist and an antagonist. Their purpose is to express the goals of the main characters in a particular story. Based on, in “Godfather Death” by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, and “A & P” by John Updike, both stories have protagonists and antagonists. In the case of Godfather Death, there were two main characters, the Doctor, and the Death both played big roles in the story as protagonists. The Doctor had to follow Death’s conditions.…

    • 1035 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Epicurus, Lucretius, and Nagel are philosophers with very different views on death, and whether death is bad for the person who dies. Their understanding of life and what happens when it ceases, is the distinguishing factor. Epicurus was a philosopher who understood the universe and life as being composed of matter in the form of small particles. He stated that when one dies, the particles which make up our existence dissolve and our consciousness comes to an end. He considers what he understands to be mental and physical pain and pleasures to determine the various aspects of life.…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dictates his rather apathetic feelings towards war and needless process of collecting souls. He sees his responsibility as burden and describes it in a depressing manor. His burden is represented in “I am haunted by humans” due to the fact that he will forever be an observer and response to human ends. Death is no more only able to judge humans and not interact. He is cursed with seeing them commit atrocities and they are cursed with him looming over them, watching vigilantly to collect the next…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Therefore, habitual niceties took great pain for the deceased’s war partners. Condolence letters were written to reassure families of the dead that their relative’s spirit would live on, and to allow these families to be “virtual witnesses to the dying moments they had been denied.” In other words, death was viewed as a very intimate process, and families took solace in reading about their relative's last moments. Faust then switches the mood to that of a pretty self explanatory mood of a chapter entitled Killing. She asserts that it takes a certain level of intellectual and physiological work to overcome the emotional constraints of killing a person.…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Death is one of the most evocative concepts known to man, when endured it 's arduous to reconcile the aftermath. But aside from making the hairs on the back of necks stand, death is also agonizing. The death of a loved one or anyone can break a man, and if they are not mentally prepared they could lose themselves or in many cases lose the will to continue to believe in their spiritual or secular ideology. Regardless of what it is death can always find a creep into your beliefs and make you question the fundamental pieces of your life that make you whole. In “Bless me Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya, aside from playing a vital part in the development of the plot, the deaths that take place in this piece of literature are critical to the mindset of Antonio, the protagonist, and his beliefs.…

    • 1786 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    For many people, death is one of the scariest things they will have to face. Why? Because they do not know what will happen after they die; will they go to Heaven, or will they be reincarnated? No one is, or can be, certain of what happens and arguably, this could be the main basis of religion. The question of what happens after death is a common theme expressed through many works of literature, such as Obasan by Joy Kogawa, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane, and the poem “At the River Clarion” by Mary Oliver.…

    • 1647 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The author also conveys the idea that being dead does not mean being actually dead, but having your soul and mind dead. For instance,”My soul had been invaded-and devoured-by a…

    • 206 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Death always comes full-circle. Everyone will die at some point, and that moment is not predestined. Life is never guaranteed, and it could be taken from a person abruptly. Surprisingly, almost no one lives in constant fear of death, even though it’s presence is always lurking. The effects of death on people are obvious, and can be seen in their emotions.…

    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Most characters in The Book Thief are naïve to the fact that one’s degree of morality seems to work both against and for people regarding their fate. Sometimes good people suffer while bad people benefit; sometimes bad people live while good people die. Fate, however, does not take morality into account. Instead, it is an unbiased, random phenomenon. Being one of high moral standing does not necessarily provide protection.…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Death is something that, no matter what works any human does to prevent, will inevitably happen to everyone, but is death something that just happens without a care or is death a tragedy that causes much mourning a grief? Even though we all will perish, death is very tragic and causes much pain to people. Gwen Bristow uses death in her novel Celia Garth, and shows the pain and sorrow that comes with death by showing it through the reactions and events of the characters in the novel. Death can be very traumatic for friends and families of those who are deceased and can have a permanent impact on lives of those who were touched by the one who has passed on while they were alive. Gwen Bristow does an excellent job showing this through the death…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Leaving behind the stress and heartache that this life can contain, but also the loving memories you leave behind for your love ones. This life can be tiring and death is a peaceful rest and return to your own innocents. Both Davis and Thomas’s concepts are relatable. If we’ve experience the death of a close love one, sometimes we ask why? Why was this person taken away from us why couldn’t I have more time?…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    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.…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Death is shared among all living things, but whether it is bad varies depending on beliefs and values. Socrates explains in the Phaedo that death is not bad and he looks forward to death as a philosopher. His main reason as to why he looks forward to death is his belief that the soul is immortal. In Phaedo Socrates says that he and other philosophers spend their whole life preparing for death and strengthening their souls. While on the other hand, The Death of Ivan Ilych, by Leo Tolstoy tells a story of someone who gets hit with an unexpected and painful death and realizes that he regrets his whole life.…

    • 1469 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Everyone considers Death to be ruthless and cruel, judging on what he does, but some people have different perspectives on him. Death is kind towards humans demonstrated through the way he doesn't like his job, the way he cares for souls, and the way he cares for Liesel. Death is kind towards humans demonstrated through the way he cares for souls. Close to the end in the book Death explains, “Please believe me when i…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays