The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a deep and emotional story that demonstrates the impact of the role of the narrator in a story perfectly. In this case, the narrator is Death. The voice of Death provides an omniscient yet caring viewpoint to a story about an uncaring world with a lot of death and destruction. “I wanted to stop. To crouch down. I wanted to say: “I’m sorry, child.” But that is not allowed.” (Zusak 14) The narrator, Death, seems to be a friendly face in Nazi Germany, which is in opposition to the normal perception of death as scary and unsympathetic. This juxtaposition of perception against the reality of the book is interesting because in a different setting, Death would be scary and life would be soothing. What this is saying

Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away.” (Zusak 7) The author makes Death seem relatable and truthful, like a person you already know. This book’s impact is increased because when you cry for the characters, this narrator cries with you, like in the last piece of evidence. What you feel in this book is compounded by the feelings that Death feels, so you can see more similarities, and he seems more human. This book’s depiction of death is a drastic contrast to the main ideas of death in culture and society. “I could introduce myself properly, but it’s not really necessary. You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables.” (Zusak 7) The idea of death comes with so many predetermined connotations and assumed feelings and thoughts that our perception of the narrator could easily be influenced and we wouldn’t see the true story. In the beginning of this story, the author goes around this by not explicitly mentioning the narrator’s name for a big chunk of the book. Instead, we meet the narrator first and come to our own conclusions about what kind of a ‘person’ they