In literature, death is often portrayed as a heartless presence that grips ahold of anyone standing in it's way. In the "Book Thief"," by Markus Zusak, it is quite the opposite. In this book, death is the omniscient narrator viewing himself as a cheerful, amiable, and affable presence who uses .
distractions to keep himself sane. .
To deflect him from his sadness and never-ending duty, he often fixates on the color of the sky at the time of each human death. Interestingly, in some ways, death seems to be humane. We see death evoking pathos such as sadness and joy and he even reveals his states of depression, having a job that is disheartening as it gets. Death states, "I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, And I wonder how the same thing can be both."(p.491) .
You may have asked yourself, what human does he speak of that he has seen the best and worst of themselves. Well, let's begin with the book thief herself, Liesel Meminger. She is a.
hardworking, and kind-hearted person. She loves books so much, she steals them, even though she doesn't know how to read. Like many people, Liesel doesn't have an easy time reading, at least not at first. In fact, without her foster father Hans (who, with his fourth-grade education, doesn't read so well himself) and his dedication to teaching her, she might never have learned to read at all. .
Throughout the novel, Liesel shows the beauty side of her which is her cooperation and appreciation towards her foster parents. The other side that she revealed to the reader was the tragic experience she dealt with when her brother passed away as well as the fact that her birth mother gave her away with no explanation. The abandonment of a mother a traumatizing experience. I can relate to Liesel but her confidence is a trait I don't have - this makes her an even more inspiring character to me. The quality I like most about Liesel is her self-motivation and her optimistic way of viewing her situation.
