Death has always talked about colors. He's talked about and described the colors of the sky each time he met the book thief. As soon as I started reading this section Death said "the sky was the color of Jews"(349). Did Jews have a specific color or was it the color of their burning corpses in the German concentration camps? Throughout this chapter I kept seeing, not quite an extended metaphor exactly, but rather a theme of gasses and vapors. I didn't write it so I can't tell you if this theme was put there on purpose, but it certainly makes sense in the context seeing as how so many Jews were being gassed and burned during that time period. Here are some key phrases that helped contribute to this theme:
"their souls rose up"(349) like any kind of steam would
"and we climbed out of those shower facilities ... Minute after minute. Shower after shower"(349) these are obviously gas showers, not the kind you'd find in your bathroom
"Still, it was better than the gas"(349)
"Smoky sky in those places"(349)
"The smell like a stove, but still so cold"(349) Death here could be talking about an ordinary kitchen stove burning something on the plate but he is more likely referring to the types stoves used in concentration camps to incinerate Jewish corpses.
I want to move on now to Death's conversations with God/himself. Does Death believe in God or does he already know from experience that God is never going to answer him? I personally think it's a combination of the two. Maybe he thinks God exists but another part of him tries to convince him otherwise. That would certainly explain his behavior on page 350:
"I say His name in a futile attempt to understand. 'But it's not your job to understand'. That's me who answers"(350).
What would Death be attempting to understand? If there really was a God? I doubt Death is atheist because shortly following my previous excerpt, death asks the reader:
"You think you're the only one he never answers?"(350).
To me, these quotations show me that death believes in God. (unless this is a typo) why else would death capitalize "His" in "I say His name in a futile attempt to understand".
At the end of "Death's Diary: the Parisians", Zusak manages to confuse me once more as the last sentence is "They were French, They were Jews, and they were you."(350)
Can Zusak PLEASE stop being SO Zusak! Why can't he have a solid sentence for an ending rather than making you think he's going to explain what he meant, only to disappoint you?
This chapter has succeed in completely baffling me. Can someone please try and help me further understand this portion of the book?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I totally agree with you on how in this part of the story the imagery is more about the death of jews in concentration camps than what it has been before. I liked how you made that connection on how the colors of the sky seem to reflect what is going on right now. On your second note, i think that Zusak doesn't make a full complete and understandable sentence because, one, he tries to lure you into the book by making it so that the story isn't very clear until the very ending and, two, he gives a little mystery as of what is to come next.
ReplyDeleteWe missed you in class today, Wooz, and all the more so because we talked about this very section. I hope if you're back tomorrow, you can lead your section through your close reading of the linked images which do, indeed explain the "colour of Jews." That's a much more powerful statement than saying "the sky was grey." And yes, I do know what you mean about Zusak being SO ZUSAK. I guess we won't ever mistake him for Jane Austen....
ReplyDelete