“If you feel like it, come with me. I will tell you a story. I’ll show you something.” (Zusak 15) This is said by the narrator, death, at the start of The Book Thief. The book is set in World War 2, a time when death and destruction played a major role. Because Death is the narrator it is able to tell the reader about things that another character other than death could not. Death is able to talk about multiple characters thoughts and ideas, including its own. If Leisel or another character was the narrator the reader would not be as informed and understand who the characters are as well as they could.
Death having this important role is a constant reminder of his presence in World War 2. It was a time of war and death, and in this book it is on every page. Death being the narrator is able to tell the reader the important and huge role death has in World War 2. It is almost fitting that it is the narrator of a book about the Holocaust. Death is a necessary character in The Book Thief because it is able to provide information about World War 2 that other narrators could not, it is able to tell the reader what the character is thinking when he or she dies, and it symbolizes colors to provide a better understanding of death and its role.
“There was, of course, the matter of forty million people I picked up by the time the whole thing was finished” (Zusak 112). Death says this while talking about the book burning that happened during World War 2. The fact that forty million people died in this war is not something that Liesel, as the narrator, could not have told us. Liesel was only 9, so it makes sense that she did not know what was occuring. She was oblivious as to what was going on and how serious this war was. All she knew was what Hans Hubermann told her to do and not to do.
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If Leisel was the narrator the reader would not know what was going on in the war outside of Himmel Street. The narrator needs to be able to talk about World War 2 outside of Himmel Street, and death does just that. “Frightened by what she saw, Liesel placed the book back down, exactly as she found it, against Max’s Leg” (Zusak 281) Max, a Jew that the Hubermann’s were hiding in their basement, wrote a book about the war and how awful it was. Lisel flipped through a few pages to see two people standing on hundreds of dead Jews. Liesel was frightened because of the fact that she did not know that this was happening. Death is a necessary character in The Book Thief because it is able to inform the reader about World War 2 more thoroughly than another character could.
“In her final visions, she saw her three children, her grandchildren, her husband, and the long list of lives that merged with hers.” (Zusak 544) Death says this near the end of the book when Liesel, the book thief, dies. Death as the narrator provides what a character is thinking or feeling when he or she dies. Death also uses colors to describe a person’s death. Knowing what the character is thinking and feeling during their death gives the reader a better understanding of the narrator and the war itself.
“First the colors. Then the humans. That’s usually how I see things.” (Zusak 3) Death uses color to describe the skies and peacefulness of a character when they die. Most of the skies during the Holocaust are red. Liesel’s death however had blue skies. Red. This color plays a huge role in World War 2 alongside death. It is a sign of destruction, sadness, and war. The second color is blue. Blue skies represent calmness and happiness, the opposite of red. The last color is black. It is a sign of absence, a lack of color. Using colors to describe one’s death is something no other narrator could do. Death is the only character that knows how someone feels when they die. It provides the reader with a better understanding of death and its role in World War 2.
“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.” (Zusak 528). This is a quote from The Book Thief, that Liesel wrote. It is a book about her life living on Himmel Street. By including parts of Liesel’s version of The Book Thief Zusak is able to show what the book would have been like if death was not a character in the book. By using death as the narrator it is able to provide a unique perspective. Death is able to use colors to describe someone’s death. Death as the narrator is a reminder that it was everywhere during World War 2. Death is a necessary character in The Book Thief because it is able to provide information and use personification to understand the book and the role of death in the horrific period of time, called World War 2.
