Previous Next. Check out Zusak had to say about why he chose Death as the narrator for The Book Thief : Well, I thought I'm writing a book about war, and there's that old adage that war and death are best friends, but once you start with that idea, then I thought, well, what if it's not quite like that?
Source Now what do you think? What's Up With the Ending? Tired of ads? Join today and never see them again. Get started. But it's still like I said it was: no one lives forever. Death : When I finally came for Liesel, I took selfish pleasure in the knowledge that she had lived her ninety years so wisely. By then her stories had touched many souls, some of whom I came to know in passing.
Max, whose friendship lasted almost as long as Liesel. In her final thoughts, she saw the long list of lives that merged with hers. Her three children, her grandchildren, her husband. Among them, lit like lanterns, were Hans and Rosa, her brother, and the boy whose hair remained the color of lemons forever. Death : I wanted to tell the book thief she was one of the few souls that made me wonder what it was to live.
But in the end there were no words. It can be intriguing for the reader to gain a new portrayal of Death. Towards the end of the book we find out that Liesel wrote a short story about herself. We find out that Death is basing this whole retelling of her life on her autobiography. It was Papa. Death narrates a detailed biography of Liesel but it may not make the reader feel like they truly know her. Death tells the reader about his encounters with Liesel and this make her story special.
It makes the reader wonder why Death was compelled to tell her story. Death only sees her when someone in her life dies. The third time he sees her is when Himmel Street is bombed and Liesel is the only survivor. That is when the autobiography she wrote gets lost and Death finds it.
It is special that Death talks about Liesel using that nickname and it makes her unique. The reader might expect the story to be all about stealing books, but in the end it is not. The effect of repeatedly calling Liesel the book thief keeps the reader enticed. The reader might think that she will become a great thief stealing many books or one special book. These kinds of expectations may keep the reader anxious but they will find that the story is more than just Liesel stealing books.
After many years when Liesel has lived a full life and is now dead, Death gets to meet her. Next, Death shares his thoughts about humans to the reader. Death himself, learns about life and humans, and shares with the reader. This too, is unique. He even told Liesel this. After some rendering of this last note the reader can find it a bit ironic. To haunt can mean to disturb or to recur persistently to the consciousness of5. Humans are persistently made conscious of death and can feel haunted by the fact that they will die some day.
It is ironic that Death would be haunted when he is the one expected to be haunting humans. During World War II thousands of people died under the command of a disturbing man who caused disturbing things.
He is talking about humans. Death sees how opposite from cruel humans can be. Hitler used words to command terrible things, but for Liesel they brought her closer to people like Hans, Max Vandenburg, Ilsa Hermann and Frau Holtzapfel.
The effect is a slight cliffhanger where the reader has to mull over the unexpected last words from the narrator. The use of metafictional narration may shock and intrigue the reader. It also allows the reader to get to know a unique personification of death. Death uses simple and straightforward statements to effectively inform the reader.
As an omniscient narrator he allows the reader to get to know the characters well. Also, the jumping from scene to scene and back and forth in time proves his omniscience. All of these different narration styles and techniques make a freestyle narration that effectively tells the story of Liesel, teaches the reader about Death, as well as how powerful words are.
It also provokes the reader to think about the great and ugly things humans do. Bibliography 1. Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. While his commentary often focuses on his perception of humans, he also works to correct humans' perception of him, revealing that he does have a heart, that he doesn't carry a scythe, and that he, in fact, appears quite human.
He describes how he has to do the bidding of many different bosses — these humans like Hitler who exterminate and bring war to others. The job often tires him. Previous Ilsa Hermann.
0コメント