The Book Thief, post 2

The Book Thief is written from the perspective of Death. Death, the Grim Reaper, Stealer of Souls, and as such is written in quite an alternative and fanciful manner. The narrator makes

BULLETIN BOARD ANNOUNCEMENTS, LIKE THIS

throughout the story to introduce plot points or draw attention to certain key facts. He also focuses on coulors and their attached sensations - such as the taste of the chocolate coloured sky.

            The author makes use of this narrator for several reasons, one of which is to draw attention to the manifold horrors and atrocities of the Nazi Germany.   The narrator will occasionally lapse into brief side stories about the concentration camp “showers” in which thousands of Jews died. Death speaks of finding them all crammed together in a single stall, loosening their souls from their prison of flesh, and taking them away – to where, we do not know.

            With Death as the narrator, the author also has a lot more artistic freedom. He breaks several conventional rules, such as revealing the ending of the story midway through the book. He also makes several unusual metaphors, such as “The world was sagging… under the weight of all that snow” and “Smoke was leaking from both {of the plane’s] lungs”. When Liesel and her friend Rudy start thieving, he refers to them as “debutants”. Debutant apple thieves!

This artistic liberty makes the story a lot more interesting to read, because many conventional literary rules were smashed to pieces. The book was refreshing and different with this alternative narration.