Death

Death has easily become one of the most memorable characters The Book Thief. Throughout the story he has proved to be neither the cliched image of death (i.e. dark clothes, scythe, etc.) nor someone who strongly defies these assumptions about his persona. Death appears as a character who is very aware about the role he plays. He certainly doesn't display any enthusiasm for what his job entails, but he is still able to recall what he has seen and talk about how he goes about his work in a surprisingly nonchalant way. (or maybe blunt is a better word)

Regarding himself and his job, Death has said:

• "I am all bluster--I am not violent. I am not malicious. I am a result." (p. 6) This quote is from the very beginning of the novel. From the start, Death has gone hand-in-hand with the human race's existence. Death has long since accepted this fact, and in a way, he is not required to fully shoulder the blame of war and mass murder. In fact, later on in the book, he even makes the remark about looking in the mirror if you want to see what Death looks like.
• "I've seen so many young men over the years who think they're running at other young men. They are not. They're running at me." (p. 174-5) Death makes this observation while telling the story of Hans Hubermann during WWI. Our narrator has, without saying it outright, explained exactly what makes war seem so pointless to many. It is, in the case of Hans Hubermann's story, young men against young men, but really, what does one of the young men gain personally by killing the other?
• "In the darkness of my dark-beating heart, I know... You see? Even death has a heart." (p. 242) Well played, Death. Also, whenever he makes these remarks about himself, he makes his character more and more human-like. Death is proving to be, as he said before,not violent, but simply a result.
• "Forget the scythe, Goddamn it, I needed a broom or a mop. And I needed a vacation." (p. 307) It's lines like these that help Death achieve a sense of dark humor. Nevertheless this quote still seems to say: Death is overworked, Death is overwhelmed by the deaths, Death wouldn't mind if it all stopped for a moment.
• "They say that war is death's best friend, but I must offer you a different point of view on that one. To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible. He stands over your shoulder repeating one thing, incessantly: 'Get it done, get it done.' So you work harder. You get the job done. the boss, however, does not thank you. He asks for more." (p. 309) This quote works because Death has turned war into something that people can understand and/or relate to. War, the tyrannical boss, forces him to work harder, regardless of whether or not the amount of work (or death) is unmanageable and unprecedented.

One of my favorite ways Zusak exploits Death's character is in the chapters "Death's Diary: Cologne" and "Death's Diary: The Parisians." Death is able to run off on these tangents about his experiences for a whole chapter without it seeming (too) random. Perhaps Death is able to do so because he has been and will be present for the duration of the novel. He is one of the other characters and this story belongs as much to him as it does to Liesel, or Hans, or Max. The "Death's Diary" chapters remind the reader that although life goes on for Liesel and the others living in Molching, there is violence in other places, too. A city has been bombed. French Jews have been gassed. Death is able to conveniently pull the reader out of Molching to see these other events.

Reading "Death's Diary: Cologne" was one of my favorite parts of the assigned reading. Why? Because it was made me think for a moment. When done with the chapter, of course the reader feels upset for the citizens of Cologne, and as a result feel anger towards whoever bombed the city. Something he or she may not consider, however, is that Cologne is in Germany, and was therefore bombed by the allies. When reading a book about WWII, it's easy to immediately consider the axis powers the "bad guys" (and I'm not saying they didn't do some horrible things) and consider the allies the "good guys." But when you see innocent German citizens on the receiving end of the violence, it makes it more difficult to consider the allies the "good guys."

So thanks, Death, for the food for thought.