His chief source for the story hes telling is the book thief, the book liesel writes about her life. I find first person most exciting to read when the narrator has a distinct voice. This is a quick book summary and analysis of the book thief by markus zusak. What if the author had chosen a different narrator. One can judge a person through the way they speak as the way they speak is how they think and how they think is who they are. This paper examines the personification of death in the book thief and its impact on. First person omniscience in the book thief, part one random. The book thief what is the importance of deaths role as a narrator. Then i thought what if death is more like thinking, well.
Review of the book thief essays 1174 words bartleby. This intimacy and access is something zusak takes advantage of time and time again. I am sure i have read an earlier book that used that device, but i cant for the life of me remember what it was called. The word shaker is about hitler, who plants words like seeds throughout an entire nation, grows forests of these thoughts throughout all of germany. Narration in markus zusaks the book thief the aquila digital. Sparknotes is here for you weve got everything you need to ace or teach. First person omniscience in the book thief, part one. How would the story be different if there was a different narrator. He notes that a big part of his job is equality, he comes for everybody sooner or later. For another, death is in some ways pretty humanespecially considering how inhumane a lot of the homo sapiens running around in the book thief are. How was death telling the reader about rudys death before it happens effective. For one thing, death aint the bad guy that would be hitler.
Death is fairly efficient and prides himself in his ability to work hard during high demand times, such as world war ii. The narrator, which is the voice that tells a story, is death in the book thief. How did the point of view in the book thief affect. That night, liesel meminger truly became the book thief. I think you are drawn into the book by the narrator. Rosa gave liesel this book a few days before christmas and tells her she was always ready for it. What would the book have been like if it was narrated by a thirdperson narrator. Anyone else enjoy the little inputs in bold from death. Well, i thought im writing a book about war, and theres that old adage that war and death are best friends, but once you start with that idea, then i thought, well, what if its not quite like that. He lurks from place to place with the relatively menial duty of carrying away the souls of the recently deceased, bluntly just taking them out of the rotation. Exploring markus zusaks use of death as a narrator in the.
The book thief by markus zusak may linked with the reader by bernhard schlink using the themes of reading, nazi germany and death. I havent seen the movie but in the book, the narrator is explicitly death. In the opening of the book when liesel steals her first book, the gravediggers handbook, this event can. Character death in the novel english literature essay. It is the first of many breaks in the narrative that give the reader a direct dialogue with the narrator, death. Though it is not addressed specifically from leisles point of view and it is not in present tense, death is telling the story as a progressiona progression not only of leisles understanding of words and the world, but also of herself and the. What does liesel do as she processes to deal with what has happened. Exploring markus zusaks use of death as a narrator in the book thief. One thought on first person omniscience in the book thief, part one resource.
What is the importance of deaths role as a narrator. But dont go cowering under the covers on his account. What is the effect of having death serve as the narrator. Thief often assume the narrators omniscience, but i find that death is crucially not. This sense of universal fairness certainly makes him a reliable narrator. In lieu of an abstract, below is the essays first paragraph.
The book thief, like the book on which its based, is narrated by death roger allam, who explains that he rarely cares about the stories of the living, with the exception of young liesel meminger sophie nelisse. In this story, much of what death relates to us falls into the second category. Introduction in brian percivals film, the book thief, an ominous narrator pops in and out throughout the movie. He takes an interest in liesel and her story, and he believes that liesels story. The book thief essay essay example bla bla writing. Imagine the book thief if liesel had been the sole. The character of death in the book thief from litcharts.
Having death as the narrator fit well too, as it was like death was following liesel. There is so much death, in so many horrible ways, that anyone would notice or remember how any would happen is almost unbelievable. While critics have discussed markus zusaks the book thief 2005 in terms of the holocaust, its. By having death as a narrator, he is all knowing omniscent therefore he knows the story and.
Throughout the novel, death often provides humorous, informative, or dark asides. He is suspected of being cruel, disturbing and all synonyms of horrifying. Jun 09, 2008 brittany h w argued my point that death is not a good narrator for the book thief by saying, since death is the narrator, we hear about more characters and learn more about the time period in which the story is set. Was death an effective narrator for the book thief. This might be the second paragraph on the opening page of the book thief, but it is definitely the first thing that gets your attention.
In the novel the book thief by markus zusak, the narrator who is known only as death is a critical thinker which makes death s point of view very engaging for a modern audience. In the book thief, death, the narrator of the story, uses foreshadowing in many different situations to give the reader a sense of what is coming up. First, foreshadowing is a large part of zusaks writing style. Foreshadowing is constantly used in deaths side notes which are scattered throughout the book in boldface text. Colors play a huge role in the storytelling of the book thief by markus zusak. Death allows you to see the inbetween of good and bad. In the first part of the movie it made me suspect that he is liesels brother i think there was a line were he mentions he was alive once when max came into picture i gained the impression that the narrator is his father. Normally, when you read a book about the holocaust, it tends to focus on bad germans, concentration camps, jews dying or in hiding but death as the narrator allows you to get a different viewpoint. Also, she stole a book on how to dig a grave, so maybe thats why death would follow her. In markus zusaks the book thief, death is made to seem or resemble humans. The book thief is narrated by an extremely overworked being who identifies himself as death. Our narrator, death, is drawn to colors, mostly as a coping mechanism for the tough work he does. Death is a very wellknown figure that is feared by many in all countries.
An example of a narrator other than the main protagonist, the book thief uses word choice, form, and voice to show deaths perspective on. He goes about describing his work as doable, yet not pleasant or nice. The book thief discussion questions chicago public library. What was the authors purpose behind choosing death as a narrator. A good narrator is entertaining and distinct from all other first person narrators.
My question study of the character death in the novel the book thief through his narration. The book thief cliffsnotes study guides book summaries. If the author had chosen a narrator other than death, the reader may have felt differently about the characters in the book. The humor and wit of atticus in hounded and the odd way death views and categorizes the world in the book thief both add another layer to the stories and make them stand out. Death is inevitable and that is the most fearing aspect of his persona. Death himself is the narrator of the book thief, and the setting is nazi germany during world war ii, so there is a constant feeling of danger and suspense in the story. The book thief death as a narrator showing 150 of 51 goodreads. You could also pair it with the graphic novel maus by art spiegelman. Brittany h w argued my point that death is not a good narrator for the book thief by saying, since death is the narrator, we hear about more characters and learn more about the time period in which the story is set.
Its a while since i read it, but i loved the book thief. By using death as a narrator, zusak is able to do that and at the same time give us the widescreen shot that death sees. Check out zusak had to say about why he chose death as the narrator for the book thief. He is fascinated by humans and the colors of the world, but he struggles throughout the novel to decipher how humans are capable of so much ugliness and so much beauty. I recently heard someone claim that the book thief was the first ever book to feature death as the narrator. In fact when it was laying on my desk as people would come into my office they would say you are reading the book thief, you are going to be amazed with it. Every reader of the book has their own version of death and its voice in my case, death speaks in an australian accent.
For one thing, death aint the bad guy that would be. And if you could give me and example from the book page number included that would be greattt. Odd narrator of a girls story nprs john ydstie interviews markus zusak, author of the book thief, a novel set in world war ii germany with death himself as. Apr 18, 2012 i think the answer largely lies in the huge pro of first person omniscience. He takes an interest in liesel and her story, and he believes that liesels story is one of a handful of beautiful stories he possesses. Its not my absolute favorite book, but death as a narrator i liked. Jan 23, 2011 do you think the book thief will make a good movie. The choice of narrative perspective in the book thief is very appropriate and effective when it comes to the development of the theme of the extremes of humanity. The character of death in the book thief from litcharts the.
I have just saw the movie and i have some doubts about the narrator s identity. Hinko cp english 10 p5 october 2017 the book thief summer reading essay in the book thief,by markus zusak, death explores the world of liesel meminger and how she interprets the troubles of her time. It is also used to keep the reader focused on the how the characters meet their ends. The theme of death in the book thief from litcharts the. Youre still scratching your head in confusion, arent you. Odd narrator of a girls story nprs john ydstie interviews markus zusak, author of the book thief, a novel set in world war ii germany with death himself as the narrator. Death tells the story of liesel, an ordinary german girl living in germany during world war two. But, for liesels story to make sense to us, death needs to tell us about whats going on in other parts of germany, poland, and russia during world war ii, to. A little later in the same chapter, death pulls us back from the wide shot and gives his own view on what wwii felt like for him. The device of using death as a narrator i found quite acceptable a bit like the lovely bones, it gives the writer an opportunity to have a firstperson omniscient narrator.
Explanation of the famous quotes in the book thief, including all important speeches, comments, quotations, and monologues. The narrator in this exceptionally well written book and movie is neither ghost nor god. One example of this is the secret life of hans hubermann. Death casts doubt on the effectiveness of hanss strategy. The reader can learn a lot about death through his narration. How does death see things that a human narrator might not. Our narrator is making it quite clear that while, yes, his job is to come and collect your soul at the end of your life, he is certainly not the traditional grim reaper. When liesel drops her newly completed memoir, the book thief, after learning that all those she knows and loves on himmel street have died from bomb blasts, death steals the book from a trash truck.