Book Club #2 Response

THE BOOK THIEF

BY

MARCUS ZUSAK

         In society today, we generally think that the person who sees us to the after life is this ruthless, eerie, hooded figure, who holds a scythe. This person is emotionless and bitter and glee over your death. However, in The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, this person is portrayed as a kind and sympathetic person, better known as Death. The irony of his name gives him a false impression for he cares for the dead and wishes them off better. If it weren't for him, the poor souls would be wandering around earth miserably. Death symbolizes the good in everything bad.
As stated before, Death is thought to be apathetic in everyday life. On the other hand, Death is actually the most sympathetic person through out the whole book. As Death narrated the story and oversaw Liesel and her life, he comments on what he sees and sympathizes with the characters and their struggles. The book states, "Poor Frau Diller, both sons dead because of this useless, pathetic war." Death understands the miserable state this character is in and relates to Frau Diller by using those words to describe the war. He understands and sympathizes with her that her sons died for nothing. For this reason, Death is seen as sympathetic, the opposite of what people generally think of him as.
In addition, Death is kind. When the people died in the book on Himmel street after the bombing, Death took great care to guide them through their misery of their realization of death. He helped them to a better time and even kissed them on the head and showed affection. He also went as far as to relieve some of Liesel's misery of losing her family by revealing her journal that she had kept before the bombing, giving her some closure. "My book... I remember... these memories... thank you." As you can see, Death is very gentle and loving towards the dead. He treats them with kindness and fondness, unlike what people have him dictated as a cold and hard person.
To conclude, Death had been portrayed differently then what is thought of him. He is sympathetic and gentle, instead of emotionless and ruthless. My interpretation of this is that Death symbolizes the good in everything bad. He isn't what he is commonly thought of. He doesn't enjoy the misery of others, but the exact opposite. Death is something good in his bad image.
This gives a new perspective onto other real world issues. Instead of always pinning the worst against things, why not give it a chance. This is what happens in the world, all the time. Before in slavery when all the white men and women thought that the African Americans were bad and useless, but in true light, they were just the same as them. And now today, with all the terrorism. Many people assume that all Muslim people are all terrorists and should not be trusted, but in reality, these people have nothing to hide. It is not always back and white, there is some gray too. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak represents this very well with Death.