Deaths voice Australian Markus Zusak wrote and published the Book Thief, introducing a certain aspect nobody had seen before, death himself as the narrator. The excitement sparked at its publication was something truly extraordinary, as people found themselves compelled by Leisel Meminger and her experience with the death surrounding her throughout the book. Using cryptic first and second person point of view, indepth symbolism and visual imagery, Zusak portrays to the audience death’s ever present shadow highlighting death’s mixed emotions to draw the reader to the edges of their seat and firmly establish the central idea that through one’s weakest moments it’s possible to find ones best strength.
Notably, first and second person point …show more content…
This is first seen clearly in the second page when death begins to talk of humans, “But now and then, I witness the ones left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise. They have punctured hearts. They have beating lungs” (Zusak 2). In this one see’s the weakness of those left behind meshed with the hidden strength they didn’t know the yet had. This visual aspect is important because it puts in physical form the ideas of weakness and strength caused by death, displaying the theme for us on a more lucid level. Another example of key visual imagery is when death is discussing the falling action of a person losing their battle with passing on, “you will be caked in your own body. There might be a discovery; a scream will dribble down the air. The only sound I’ll hear after that will be my own breathing, the sound of the smell of my footsteps” (Zusak 1). This is important because it demonstrates fear compressed by abrupt peace, which adds to the theme and work as a whole because it identifies with the reader on a more personal level. This shows the audience that fear doesn’t last proving that strength overcomes in the conscious and subconscious of the mind.
To end off, Zusak incorporated into his novel The Book Thief the essentials that made it successful. This was possible through second person point of view, symbolism and visual imagery. These literary elements made it possible for the concepts of the book to stem out into the greater theme of finding strength through ones weakest moments. This incorporated with death as the narrator bring the audience to a new level through the
Notably, first and second person point …show more content…
This is first seen clearly in the second page when death begins to talk of humans, “But now and then, I witness the ones left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise. They have punctured hearts. They have beating lungs” (Zusak 2). In this one see’s the weakness of those left behind meshed with the hidden strength they didn’t know the yet had. This visual aspect is important because it puts in physical form the ideas of weakness and strength caused by death, displaying the theme for us on a more lucid level. Another example of key visual imagery is when death is discussing the falling action of a person losing their battle with passing on, “you will be caked in your own body. There might be a discovery; a scream will dribble down the air. The only sound I’ll hear after that will be my own breathing, the sound of the smell of my footsteps” (Zusak 1). This is important because it demonstrates fear compressed by abrupt peace, which adds to the theme and work as a whole because it identifies with the reader on a more personal level. This shows the audience that fear doesn’t last proving that strength overcomes in the conscious and subconscious of the mind.
To end off, Zusak incorporated into his novel The Book Thief the essentials that made it successful. This was possible through second person point of view, symbolism and visual imagery. These literary elements made it possible for the concepts of the book to stem out into the greater theme of finding strength through ones weakest moments. This incorporated with death as the narrator bring the audience to a new level through the