Narrative Space: Exploring Death in Markus Zusak's The Book Thief - Ellen Rönn - Diva ...
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Narrative Space: Exploring Death in
Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief
Ellen Rönn
English Studies – Literary Option
Bachelor
15 Credits
Spring semester – 2021
Martin Cathcart FrödenRönn Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 2. Background ............................................................................................................................ 3 3. Theory and Method ................................................................................................................ 4 3.1. Focalization, Time, and Unusual Narration .................................................................... 4 3.2. Death as a Concept and Powerful Being in Fiction ........................................................ 7 4. Analysis................................................................................................................................ 10 4.1. Death as a Narrator ........................................................................................................ 11 4.2. The Space of Death in The Book Thief .......................................................................... 16 4.3. Death’s Narrative Space and How it is Perceived......................................................... 21 5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 26 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................. 29
Rönn 1
1. Introduction
In Markus Zusak’s historical novel, The Book Thief, Death narrates the story of a
young girl placed in a foster family in Germany during World War II. It follows the young
girl, Liesel Meminger, coming of age and can therefore be treated as young adult fiction. The
story presents many important characters that all have an impact on Liesel’s life. For
instance, Hans and Rosa Hubermann (her foster family), Rudy Steiner (Liesel’s best friend)
and Max Vandenburg (a Jew hiding in their basement). Death as a narrator places himself as
a character in the story in the capacity of a collector of the souls of dead people.
Consequently, he is incredibly involved in the storyline of Liesel and the people she meets.
Death takes the reader through the historical context of World War II by delving into the life
of Liesel and her family in a small town in Germany. Inevitably, he details their struggles and
tribulations as well as their contentment and happiness. Death is very pervasive in his
narration as he sometimes distances himself from the characters and sometimes comes close
to them. His narration of the story provides him with a lot of space. In this sense, space is
referred to the immense room Death, as a character with many thoughts and feelings, takes in
the story. For instance, Death possesses information about everything—he claims to know
how people feel, dream, and think. Therefore, the narrative space he takes greatly affects the
novel as the story is controlled by how he tells it. To understand how he uses his narrative
space, it is important to look at the space he claims as well as how he narrates it.
The story itself is very tragic as it revolves around the Holocaust; however, Death’s
narration adds a light-heartedness to it. Accordingly, the novel appeals to young adults as the
mode of narration alleviates the story’s tragedy. Death manages to describe each horrifying
event and the overall sadness of the novel by loosening the grip of the tragedy in it. For
example, he appears to be amiable, calming, and sympathetic in his narrative space. I am notRönn 2 comparing The Book Thief to the film adaptation or other novels by Zusak; instead, I am looking at Death’s narrative space in the novel. Narration is mainly analysed in the context of focalization, time, and unusual narration. In this context, unusual narration refers to narration that appears to be extreme, strange, or different. In addition, the space of Death is analysed in the framework of how death—both as a concept and as a powerful being—is portrayed in literature. This research aims to look at how Death uses his narrative space to alleviate the story’s tragedy.
Rönn 3
2. Background
The Book Thief is a popular novel. In an article in The Guardian, it was described as:
“a number one New York Times bestseller, The Book Thief has been marketed as an older
children’s book in some countries and as an adult novel in others. It could and - dare I say? -
should certainly be read by both” (Ardagh). The novel brings up many significant themes, for
instance, dehumanization, powerlessness, and family. The story is set in the historical context
of World War II and is noticeably tragic because it takes place during the Holocaust and
Hitler era. Despite being about a heavy matter, the novel is particularly suited to young
adults. In the novel, Liesel faces multiple grievous moments; she watches her brother die, her
mother leaves, the little town in Germany where she lives gets bombed and her foster family
and best friend die. Death as a narrator is specifically relevant in this context as the space he
is given provides the story with a different perspective of World War II.
Previous research has analysed the novel in different contexts. In “Shaking Words:
Memoir as Confrontation in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief,” Domínguez-Rué analyses the
role of words in relation to those whose stories are silenced, the theme of trauma, and its
impact on young adults as a Holocaust text. Furthermore, in “Bibliophilia, Bibliomania or
Bibliokleptomania? Liesel’s Passionate Love Affair with Books in Markus Zusak’s The Book
Thief,” Vernay explores the effect of books and how Liesel relates to them. In terms of
narration, Almeida de Oliveira and Maggio have, in “The Deadly Perception of the Witness:
Focalization in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief,” analysed how focalization helped create the
atmosphere and meaning of the text. They focused on the characters and the importance of
acknowledging focalization to understand a given narrative. However, I intend to explore the
narration of Death in the context of his narrative space and its effect on the tragic story.Rönn 4
3. Theory and Method
To conduct the research, I intend to use different theorists’ perspectives of narration
and Death—as a concept and powerful being. For instance, Narrative Fiction by Rimmon-
Kenan; she approaches different issues such as events, time, narration, focalization, the text,
and its reading. This book is very helpful in my research of Death as the narrator and the
different forms of narration that can be found in The Book Thief. Specifically, examining time
and focalization in terms of order and perspective. Additionally, I am using discourse
analysis to study academic journals written about narrative theories and the space of Death in
literature. This provides broader perspectives and helps analyse Death’s role in The Book
Thief. Furthermore, research about the space of Death in fiction—the role Death has—helps
conduct this paper. In The Book Thief, Death takes up a lot of space in terms of his thoughts
and feelings. The space of death, as a concept, is something Brennan analyses in “Literature
and the Intimate Space of Death.” This research by Brennan is relevant in that it examines
death’s portrayal in literature.
In conducting the research, I am focusing on a close reading of The Book Thief to be
able to analyse Death’s narrative space. Through different narrative theories—such as
focalization, time, and unusual narration—and theories on Death’s portrayal in fiction, I can
see how Death uses his narrative space to alleviate the story’s tragedy.
3.1. Focalization, Time, and Unusual Narration
Narration consists of many different concepts and theories. The term narration is
defined by Rimmon-Kenan as “(1) a communication process in which the narrative as
message is transmitted by addresser to addressee and (2) the verbal nature of the medium
used to transmit the message” (2). This suggests that there is a giver and a receiver of
information through a specific medium. Within narration, there are various concepts and
theories which explains as well as complicates the term. An essential concept within narrationRönn 5
is focalization. Rimmon-Kenan writes that focalization “has both a subject and an object. The
subject (the ‘focalizer’) is the agent whose perception orients the presentation, whereas the
object (the ‘focalized’) is what the focalizer perceives” (75). This concept entails that—
within narration—the focalizer’s point of view controls the given narrative and the focalized.
When examining focalization, it adds a layer to the analysis of the perspective of the narrator.
In this sense, there is a deeper understanding of the narrator and the story being told.
According to Rimmon-Kenan, focalization can be external or internal; referred to as
“narrator-focalizer” or “character-focalizer” (75). This means that a story is either close to the
narrator or to the character. In The Book Thief, the story is close to Death as a narrator since
he is telling the story of Liesel Meminger. Focalization is substantial for analysing narration;
specifically, to tell from what perspective the narrator is looking at the story.
Time is another concept within narration, specifically, analepsis and prolepsis. They
refer to past events and future events (Rimmon-Kenan 46). An example from Narrative
Fiction is: “again like analepses, they can cover either a period beyond the end of the first
narrative (external), or a period anterior to it but posterior to the point at which it is narrated
(internal), or combine both (mixed)” (Rimmon-Kenan 49). Here, Rimmon-Kenan explains
the difference between prolepses and analepses. These concepts provide further analysis of
narratives as it is possible to declare if a narrator is external or internal. In relation to Death in
The Book Thief, the ability to jump in time as an external narrator—specifically to future
events—removes suspension to the novel as he reveals the fate of the story and its characters.
Focalization and time are both applicable concepts when looking at Death’s narration of The
Book Thief. Specifically, they provide an understanding of Death’s narrative space and how it
is used to convey the story’s tragedy in a light-hearted way.
To be able to analyse how Death uses his narrative space in The Book Thief, it is
essential to look at unusual narration. This provides a profound insight into Death as aRönn 6
narrator. An example of extreme narration is what Richardson argues in the chapter “Three
Extreme Forms of Narration.” He writes, “we may identify and bring together the varieties of
posthumanist narrators and voices that have superseded the traditional figure of the narrator
as a person who is telling a story and who is subject to the normal abilities and limitations of
a human being or humanlike narrating agent” (Richardson 103). Here, he talks about
narrators that have left the traditional structure of a narrator. These narrators are beings that
cannot be bound to the rules of reality. Death as a narrator in The Book Thief is non-
traditional and is not subject to the normal abilities of a human. In fact, no narrator is, since
they are made up—Death, however, is very far from being seen as something close to the
abilities of a human.
When looking at strange narration, Landais offers a perspective of narration in
fantastic fiction in which she talks about metalepsis in Patrick Senécal’s novel Aliss. Landais
writes, “the last confusion of the narrative and diegetic levels induced by the authorial
metalepsis in Aliss happens when the narratee is encouraged to follow the narrator into the
story, as if they were at the same level as the characters: ‘Aliss is here, in that car… Let’s go
with her!’” (241). Here, Landais claims there to be confusion between levels, and it results in
an uncanny feeling with the reader (241). This uncanny feeling can be detected in Death as a
narrator in The Book Thief in that he invites the reader into the story. These different levels of
narration are noteworthy as they can disclose the narrator’s intention in a story. For example,
the intention of leaving the reader with a very strange feeling. Death often positions himself
at the same level as the characters, where his intention could be to make the reader feel
uneasy. However, it can also induce a feeling of comfort as the reader might feel closer to
Death as a character, making him appear less scary.
The notion of Death appearing less frightening can also be found when looking at a
different kind of narration and what Cohn calls “narrated monologue.” In placing her ownRönn 7
term, “narrated monologues,” in relation to irony and sympathy, Cohn writes: “precisely
because they cast the language of a subjective mind into the grammar of objective narration,
they amplify emotional notes, but also throw into ironic relief all false notes struck by a
figural mind” (504). The narrator in a “narrated monologue” can jump between many
characters’ minds and is able to use sympathetic and ironic features; these are often used on
one specific character (Cohn 504). In The Book Thief, Death as an external narrator can jump
between characters’ minds. Additionally, he adds sympathetic features a lot, specifically
when focusing on Liesel. Consequently, Death’s empathy for Liesel, and other characters,
makes him less intimidating.
Another example of a different kind of narration is a rhetorical approach. A definition
of that is: “in interpreting a narrative, rhetorical narrative theory identifies a feedback loop
among authorial agency, textual phenomena (including intertextual relations), and reader
response” (Phelan 91). The framework of which the author creates to affect the audience is
made through the structure of a text and the readers’ knowledge of the situation. In The Book
Thief, Zusak’s choice of making Death the narrator has affected the way the story is
perceived. Zusak creates a story of a young girl in World War II and structures it by letting
Death use his narrative space to affect the reader in a certain way. In this case, to lighten the
sadness of the novel.
3.2. Death as a Concept and Powerful Being in Fiction
To get an understanding of Death’s narrative space in The Book Thief, it is important
to get a perception of the space of Death in fiction. Specifically, to get an idea of how death
as a concept and as an entity is portrayed in literature. Accordingly, looking at the space of
Death is important to analyse how this portrayal can affect the tragedy of the novel.Rönn 8
Brennan analyses how death, as a concept, is portrayed in literature and introduces a
theorist’s perspective: “Blanchot argues that humans are preoccupied by dying ‘because
when we die, we leave behind not only the world but also death.’ This leaving behind of
death constitutes a profound paradox. ‘Death works with us in the world: it is a power that
humanizes nature, that raises existence to being, and it is within each one of us as our most
human quality’” (103). Here, Brennan—with Blanchot’s argument—explains the power of
death; it exists within us and is a reminder that we are alive. Consequently, in fiction, death is
a power that exists in every character as the most human quality. This relates to Death in The
Book Thief as he often reflects on characters’ thoughts and feelings; he uses his space to exist
within them.
Furthermore, Saghafi also analyses French writer and literary theorist Blanchot’s
perspective of the space of death—in relation to power—in literature. He writes, “explicitly
distinguishing ‘death’ from ‘dying,’ Blanchot, in the later fragments of the text, goes on to
associate the former with ‘power [pouvoir],’ ‘force [puissance],’ and with ‘the limited,’
whereas the latter is linked to ‘non-power’ and the crossing of boundaries” (Saghafi 9). This
means that death is linked to power and force and dying is connected to not having power and
crossing the boundary from living to being dead. This can be interpreted as Death having
power and humans having none because they are mortal; how Death in The Book Thief uses
that power will be discussed further.
Additionally, in “Words, Silence, Experiences: Derrida’s Unheimlich Responsibility”
by Scott, he presents a perspective of the power of death. Scott writes, “my guiding
hypotheses are that death, words, silence, and lives in their happenings exceed the laws that
function with them and that none of their happenings is sovereign” (21). Here, he suggests
that the happenings of death, words, silence, and lives are not unlimited such as somethingRönn 9
having ultimate power. In fiction, it can then be discussed if death holds that power or not;
this will be examined in relation to Death as the narrator in The Book Thief.
By exploring Brennan, Saghafi, and Scott’s theories on the space of Death in fiction
further, a foundation can be established to analyse Death in The Book Thief and identify how
he uses his narrative space to alleviate a tragic story.Rönn 10
4. Analysis
In The Book Thief, Death’s narration of the story and the space he claims alleviates its
tragic events. He tells the story from his perspective, with detailed knowledge of the
characters and events. While doing so, he manages to jump between external and internal
narration; he describes the characters’ appearance as well as their thoughts and feelings. In
addition, Death tells the story in a way that can be perceived as extreme, strange, or different.
He is a powerful being who uses his narrative space to point the story in a certain direction; to
convey the story’s tragedy in a light-hearted way. Although he is not a character in the
realistic setting of the story, he tells it as if he is. For instance, when he illustrates an event in
the story, he often claims to have been there: “some people said that the truck had broken
down, but I can personally testify that this was not the case. I was there” (Zusak 385). Death
possesses information about everything and makes the reader listen to what he has to say. At
the end of the novel, Death describes having a conversation with Liesel after she dies. Zusak
writes, “‘did you read it?’ she asked, but she did not look at me. Her eyes were fixed to the
words. I nodded. ‘Many times’” (537). Here, Death illustrates meeting Liesel; this is an
example of him using his narrative space to show that he is not malicious. Liesel dies of old
age, and when Death comes to collect her soul, he has a conversation with her about reading
her story. This shows that he wants the reader to know that he is connected to Liesel; he read
her story many times because he was interested in her. Consequently, it portrays a quality of
solicitude in Death.
Through examining focalization and time, unusual narration, and the space of
Death—as both concept and entity, it can be determined how Death uses his narrative space
to relieve the story’s tragedy.Rönn 11
4.1. Death as a Narrator
In the novel, Death as the narrator jumps in time on several occasions throughout the
story. Rimmon-Kenan writes, “a prolepsis is a narration of a story-event at a point before
earlier events have been mentioned. The narration, as it were, takes an excursion into the
future of the story” (46). Very often, Death reveals the course of the story. For instance,
letting the reader know the fate of the story he is about to tell: “the small German town had
been flung apart one more time. Snowflakes of ash fell so lovelily you were tempted to
stretch out your tongue to catch them, taste them. Only, they would have scorched your lips.
They would have cooked your mouth” (Zusak 23). Here, Death has given away that the
German town in which the story takes place will be bombed. This ability to jump in time and
tell the story however Death pleases is interesting in that an author does not usually give
away the ending so early in the story. Death even admits to spoiling the ending, “of course,
I’m being rude. I’m spoiling the ending, not only of the entire book, but of this particular
piece of it” (Zusak 247). Doing this takes away a lot of the suspension in the novel. The
reader knows how the story will end, already in the beginning. Consequently, it also
alleviates the discomfort of not knowing what will happen next.
In addition, time can be connected to focalization. Rimmon-Kenan writes, “an
external focalizer has at his disposal all the temporal dimensions of the story (past, present
and future)” (79). Death as an external narrator can navigate through temporal dimensions.
For example, “for now, though, let’s let him enjoy it. We’ll give him seven months. Then we
come for him. And, oh, how we come” (Zusak 133). Here, Death predicts the future by
revealing the fate of a character. Furthermore, Death as an external focalizer knows
everything—if there is something he does not tell the reader, it is because he does not want
to. Rimmon-Kenan writes, “the external focalizer (or narrator-focalizer) knows everything
about the represented world, and when he restricts his knowledge, he does so out of rhetoricalRönn 12
considerations” (80). Additionally, the external focalizer can pass through into the focalized’s
consciousness (Rimmon-Kenan 82). Death does this all the time as he presents the characters’
thoughts. For instance, “as she started painting, Liesel thought about Max Vandenburg
fighting the Führer, exactly as he’d explained it” (Zusak 260). Death possesses knowledge of
events and characters and chooses what to tell the reader. When presenting characters’
thoughts, he provides the information he believes is necessary. For example, when a
frightening event occurs, Death does not always portray the characters’ fear of it. Zusak
writes, “at just after eleven p.m. that same night, Max Vandenburg walked up Himmel Street
with a suitcase full of food and warm clothes. German air was in his lungs. The yellow stars
were on fire. When he made it to Frau Diller’s, he looked back one last time to number thirty-
three. He could not see the figure in the kitchen window, but she could see him” (392). This
describes the moment Max, the Jew hiding in the Hubermann’s basement, must leave the
only safe place he has ever known. It is a frightening moment for Max as he is left helpless
into the dangerous unknown. Yet, Death does not detail any fear Max might supposedly feel
about such an event. In this sense, he uses his narrative space to control information about
events and characters to ease the tragic plot.
In addition to telling the reader the characters’ thoughts and feelings, Death frequently
comments on the characters with an impersonal tone, resulting in sympathy. Cohn writes,
“but no matter how ‘impersonal’ the tone of the text that surrounds them, narrated
monologues themselves tend to commit the narrator to attitudes of sympathy or irony” (504).
Death’s comments on the characters’ situations can make him appear less scary as he is
occasionally adding sympathetic features. For example, “you could argue that Liesel
Meminger had it easy. She did have it easy compared to Max Vandenburg. Certainly, her
brother practically died in her arms. Her mother abandoned her. But anything was better than
being a Jew” (Zusak 165). Here, Death compares Liesel and Max with a sympathetic toneRönn 13
instead of showing his own feelings regarding them. It is more a sympathetic comment than a
sharing of personal thoughts on them. Another example where Death comments with a
sympathetic tone is: “five hundred souls. I carried them in my fingers, like suitcases. Or I’d
throw them over my shoulder. It was only the children I carried in my arms” (Zusak 334).
This implies he has more sympathy for children than adults; he cares about the way he carries
them. Again, the tone is impersonal but sympathetic, which makes him less frightening.
Consequently, adding this feature to this harrowing event alleviates it.
Additionally, Death is a permeable narrator in that he blends with characters,
specifically Liesel. Richardson writes, “permeable Narrators, as we have just seen, are
distinct figures who merge and blend into one another without any signal or explanation, and
are thus a large-scale extension of vagrant thoughts of one character that somehow find their
way into the consciousness of another as noted above” (104). This blending between narrator
and characters can be found in The Book Thief. Death blends himself into Liesel’s thoughts as
he reads her story as well as jumps between the characters’ minds. Death says, “how could
she ever know that someone would pick her story up and carry it with him everywhere?”
(Zusak 513). It is Liesel’s story of her life—Death reads it to us, adding his perspective to it.
In addition, Death moves between the characters’ thoughts. Zusak writes about Liesel, Rosa,
and Hans, “they all thought it, but no-one spoke” (329). Death describes the three characters
sitting at the kitchen table thinking about Max being sick. Death knows what each of them is
thinking and can recount their thoughts at the same time. This feature to Death provides a
profound insight into the characters. Death as a permeable narrator who blends with
characters, specifically Liesel’s story, adds trust between him and the reader. This trust makes
the reader calmer and more comfortable.
In addition, this calmness is noticeable evident in various moments throughout the
novel. In different ways, Death often aims to make the reader feel calm. For instance, “theRönn 14
consequence of this is that I’m always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their
ugliness and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both. Still, they have one
thing that I envy. Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die” (Zusak 481). Here,
Death describes his jealousy of humans’ ability to die. Resultantly, Death’s confession of his
interpretation of humans implies that we have an advantage that Death does not.
Consequently, feeling like you somehow have leverage over Death can result in a calm
feeling. Even though his envy is primarily positioned in our mortality, it still makes the
reader feel good to be superior. Additionally, he portrays dying to be something desirable.
Correspondingly, to die becomes less terrifying; it evolves into something that just is. Our
mortality is a part of us, and to Death, it is the humans’ best quality. Death is a supernatural
being, something obvious in the narrative space he takes in the novel. Richardson analyses
this type of extreme narrator; someone who goes away from the normal abilities of a human.
He writes, “we should have a place for shifting, depersonalized, multivoiced texts that
transcend or traduce the sensibility of a single narrator, a composite figure we may refer to as
the ‘incommensurate narrator’” (Richardson 86). In Richardson’s opinion, an unusual
narrator who is not of this world is needed in fiction. He claims that it could benefit “a certain
minimal discursive consistency” (Richardson 86). Accordingly, having a narrator like Death
could be useful to tell a coherent and meaningful story.
Furthermore, Death’s narration entails a feeling of strangeness—removing
seriousness. He acts as a fantastic being and uses his abilities to come closer to the reader.
Landais writes, “the feeling of the uncanny taken in its Freudian understanding is thus
essential to fantastic fiction. Such a feeling can notably rise from specific character
representations, such as ghosts or vampires. These characters often have in common the fact
that they transgress some kind of boundaries, like the one between life and death” (237). This
very strange feeling rises from Death—he often goes beyond the bounds of life and death.Rönn 15
For example, “it suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as
genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A colour will be perched on my shoulder.
I will carry you gently away” (Zusak 14). This description of how Death will come for you
when you die leaves a peculiar feeling. Even though it is intimidating in that he describes
your death, he says it in a comforting way. This makes the story special because the reader
gets invited into it. Feeling a part of the story you read is strange, especially when Death is
the one who speaks to you. Nonetheless, this eccentricity can be perceived as relaxed because
it takes away the seriousness of the actual storyline.
Landais continues the discussion of boundaries and writes about the distinction
between story level and narration level—relating it to erasing the difference separating the
narrator and the story (238). This means that a boundary can be crossed. When Death invites
the reader into the story, the distinction between the universe of Death’s narration and the
story is removed. He transgresses a boundary where he positions himself at the same level as
the reader. For instance, “does this worry you? I urge you—don’t be afraid. I’m nothing if not
fair” (Zusak 13). Death invites the reader into the story by asking if you are worried and then
tells you not to be afraid. This creates a feeling of comfort as well as something uneasy. It is
comforting in that he speaks to the reader and is attentive towards the reader’s feelings.
However, it still raises a feeling of something very strange because it is unusual. Either way,
it still alleviates the tragic story as both these feelings take away the seriousness of the plot.
Another example is: “I said it to the book thief and I say it now to you. A last note from your
narrator. I am haunted by humans” (Zusak 538). These are the last words from Death in the
novel. When ending the story, Death makes sure to include the reader in his last message. It is
both strange and encouraging to be included. As a fantastic being, Death narrates the story
with unusual features that provide it with a light-hearted feeling.Rönn 16
Death narrates the story by jumping in time, choosing what to tell the reader, adding
sympathetic comments, blending with the characters, coming close to the reader, and taking
away the seriousness of the tragic plot. All these narrative techniques he uses are alleviating
the harrowing events in the story. Further on in the essay, a discussion of the space he is
taking in the novel and its effect on it will be presented.
4.2. The Space of Death in The Book Thief
In The Book Thief, Death takes up a lot of space—not only as a narrator but as a
powerful being. In addition, he often places himself as being part of the story. For example,
“in the darkness of my dark-beating heart, I know. He’d have loved it all right. You see?
Even death has a heart” (Zusak 246). Death claims to have a heart, which sounds
contradictory as it suggests he is alive. Brennan writes, “we only know death because we are
human, and we are only human because we are ‘death in the process of becoming’” (103). In
fiction, this notion of death being within us as a human quality can be a reason for why Death
in The Book Thief acts as though he has a heart. Although Death is an external narrator and
claims to know everything about every character, he still wants to belong to humans.
Throughout The Book Thief, Death targets humans—specifically Liesel Meminger. Death
says, “yes, often I am reminded of her, and in one of my vast array of pockets, I have kept her
story to retell. It is one of the small legion I carry, each one extraordinary in its own right.
Each one an attempt—an immense leap of an attempt—to prove to me that you, and your
human existence, are worth it” (Zusak 24). Here, Death explains his special interest in Liesel;
he also proposes that her story will help him prove that our human existence is worth it. This
can be recognized as ironic in that Death is the one who proves the worth of living. The space
Death uses to connect himself to humans and the story portrays an amiability in him. He has a
heart, even though it is different from a human heart, it still produces empathy for him. ItRönn 17
becomes easier to understand him and the burdens he carries. In fact, just because Death must
collect dead souls, does not mean he enjoys it.
Furthermore, Brennan continues, “‘the representation of death is not the
representation of a presence, an object of perception or intuition—we cannot draw a likeness
of death, a portrait, a still life … Thus, representations of death are misinterpretations, or
rather they are representations of an absence’” (103). In The Book Thief, the representation of
Death is a misinterpretation in that he is a fantastic being, he does not obey the rules of
reality. However, he is not absent from the story since he is telling it. When he is telling the
story, he delivers messages to the reader as well as putting himself into the story. “Her shop
was obliterated, the counter landing across the road, and her framed photo of Hitler was taken
from the wall and thrown to the floor. The man was positively mugged and beaten to a glass-
shattering pulp. I stepped on him on my way out” (Zusak 519). Here, Death steps on a photo
of Hitler. In this account, he delivers a message to the reader which works as a kind of
statement against Hitler. Additionally, he places himself in the story as he steps on the photo.
Zusak acknowledges Death’s views on Hitler a few times throughout the story. For instance,
“no person was able to serve the Führer as loyally as me. A human doesn’t have a heart like
mine. The human heart is a line, whereas my own is a circle, and I have the endless ability to
be in the right place at the right time” (Zusak 481). Here, Death explains his loyalty to Hitler.
Death claims that his heart provides him with the ability to serve Hitler in a way a human
cannot. If Death as the worst possible being serves Hitler best, it suggests that Hitler too is
the worst. This portrayal of Hitler enables the reader to comprehend the amount of tragedy he
caused.
Death makes the story less frightening when making ironic comments on its historical
context. Temin and Dahl analyses historical injustices in relation to narration and writes, “as
a source of social and political critique, irony functions as a counter-narrative—a narrativeRönn 18
countering dominant regimes of historical truth. It can loosen the grip of romantic, tragic, and
comic plots, which potentially distort our understandings of historical injustice and the
notions of responsibility we derive from them” (911). Death uses ironic comments on the
historical context to alleviate its tragedy. In this way, our understanding of the Hitler era and
the tragedy it caused does not become as agitated. While Death conveys the tragedy of the
historical context, he manages to remove some of its seriousness. For instance, Death says,
“their fingernails had scratched at the wood and in some cases were nailed into it by the sheer
force of desperation, and their spirits came towards me, into my arms. We climbed out of
those shower facilities, onto the roof and up, into eternity’s certain breadth. They just kept
feeding me. Minute after minute. Shower after shower” (Zusak 346). Here, Death describes
how he collects Jews. Instead of portraying a factual picture of a gas chamber, Death details
how he was fed with souls. He tells this historical event contrary to what might be predicted
by the reader. Accordingly, he loosens the grip of the tragic plot to alter the way the historical
context is perceived. Death still manages to present the horror of the situation, but he does it
by changing the way he tells it. In this way, his unexpected comments on the historical
context alleviate the story.
Additionally, Death as a powerful being does not have to apply to the rules of reality
and uses his abilities to control the course of the story. It can be discussed if he has ultimate
power—superior to all else—or not. Scott talks about the effect of words and discusses if
death, words, silence, and lives have ultimate power. He writes, “the limiting effects and
distances of reflection (and grammar) are wonderful. They allow us to play in thoughts and
words, to deviate, invent, and create, to shift meanings and valences, to overcome the barriers
of senses and rules, to move beyond the inertia that is installed by those limiting effects”
(Scott 22). In relation to The Book Thief, the use of thoughts and words concerning Death
surmount rules and limits. Death contains the power to decide the course of events. ZusakRönn 19
writes, “the juggling comes to an end now, but the struggling does not. I have Liesel
Meminger in one hand, Max Vandenburg in the other. Soon I will clap them together. Just
give me a few pages” (172). Here, Death describes himself holding Liesel and Max in his
hands, letting the reader know they will meet in a few pages. Death holds more power than
humans in this case. Accordingly, Death is connected to a being with force whereas humans,
as mortals, are linked to not having power. He can control Liesel and Max because he is
Death while they do not have any power at all. According to this, Death has ultimate power
where he does not have to apply to the rules of reality.
In contrast, in the middle of the novel, Death admits to having a boss: “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” (Zusak 309). It can therefore be argued
Death does not hold ultimate power. He still exceeds the rules of reality, but concerning his
own choices, they are determined by his boss. Death does not talk about God a lot in the
novel, he only mentions him a few times. A reason for Death’s lack of mentioning God could
be a comment on the horrors of World War II. Consequently, it could be difficult to discuss
God’s role in such a tragic story. However, an instance where he does mention God is: “I say
His name in a futile attempt to understand. ‘But it’s not your job to understand.’ That’s me
who replies. God never says anything. You think you’re the only one he never answers?”
(Zusak 347). Here, it is visible that Death wants God to guide him but does not get a
response. Death seems to have free will in the human world but not in his “God” world. He
humanizes himself and holds ultimate power in Liesel’s story, but he does not contain that
same power in his job. Again, this creates empathy as it is not his choice to collect dead
souls; it is his responsibility.Rönn 20
Additionally, Death uses his power to convey truth. Saghafi writes, “this would be
death as ’a power of being [un pouvoir d’être],’ through which everything is determined as a
possibility. Perhaps this is ’the true death [la vraie mort], death become the movement of
truth” (11). In the novel, Death uses his power to move with truth. For example, Death says,
“she did not back away or try to fight me, but I know that something told the girl I was there.
Could she smell my breath? Could she hear my cursed, circular heartbeat, revolving like the
crime it is in my deathly chest? I don’t know, but she knew me and she looked me in my face
and she did not look away” (Zusak 480). This describes the moment of Liesel and Rudy
finding a dying pilot in the aftermath of a crashing aircraft. Death is there to collect the dead
body and notices Liesel’s presence. Here, by making Liesel sense Death, he lets her know the
pilot is dead. He uses his power to connect with Liesel to convey truth. In relation to the
power of Death, Saghafi mentions that death does not necessarily need to solely be an evil
force, that death could also be something more than its material reality (11). In this way,
Death in The Book Thief can work as a helpful being in which he helps express truth; as in the
example where Liesel senses him when the pilot dies. Saghafi explains, “what Blanchot
contests here is not only death as a principle, as that which can and should be mastered, but
also death linked to any notion of truth” (Saghafi 11). Death as a helpful being can be viewed
to guide Liesel in the novel. Already at the beginning of the novel, Death expresses his
interest in Liesel and how his obsession made him follow her through her story: “I buckled –
I became interested. In the girl. Curiosity got the better of me, and I resigned myself to stay
as long as my schedule allowed, and I watched” (Zusak 17). Consequently, he also has a hard
time staying away from her. Even though he is a fantastic being and cannot be seen by her in
the same way as other characters, she can sense him. This notion of Death moving with truth
can make him appear less intimidating; he appears helpful which alleviates his presence.Rönn 21
Furthermore, Death is the most helpful when he frees people from their suffering. For
example, “please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were
newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listened to their last, gasping cries.
Their French words. I watched their love-visions and freed them from their fear” (Zusak
347). Here, Death portrays the moment he comes for the souls of French Jews in a German
prison. He details how he deliberately collected them and released them from their despair.
He was being helpful as he ended their pain and suffering. This is something Death does
throughout the book; often when he comes to collect the dead, he describes it as he is freeing
them from their agony. Consequently, this helpfulness makes him seem warmhearted as it
looks like he aims to be kind. Even though it is his job to pick up the dead, at least he
acknowledges how these people live in horror and need to be saved. Throughout the novel,
Death talks about how he comes for souls that are dying. He never implies that he comes for
someone out of evil—he does it because it helps them out of their suffering.
The space Death takes in the novel is immense. As an entity, he uses the space to
place himself in the story, make comments on the historical context, and move with truth. All
the things he does, in the space he takes, make him appear amiable. It is apparent that Death
is powerful, kind, and helpful. This adds a light-hearted perspective to the sadness of the
story.
4.3. Death’s Narrative Space and How it is Perceived
Death’s role as a narrator and the space he claims in The Book Thief greatly affect
how the story is perceived. The tragic plot becomes less assertive as Death uses his narrative
space to alleviate it. Death is a fantastic being and his space provides the story with
miraculous elements. Saghafi writes, “literary space, that is, fictional space, is the very space
of phantasmata. And the miraculous structurally belongs to this phantasmatic space, the spaceRönn 22
that also gives place to the marvellous (le merveilleux) and the extraordinary” (13). Death
belongs to the phantasmatic space, he provides the novel with the extraordinary. As a
narrator, he describes things in detail to be able to emphasize the strange and wonderful. For
instance, “please, be calm, despite that previous threat. I am all bluster—I am not violent. I
am not malicious” (Zusak 16). Here, Death emphasizes the extraordinary reality of him not
being malevolent. The author might have intentionally used this perspective of Death to
provide the young reader with an inaccurate awareness of dying. Furthermore, Zusak writes,
“it has been many years since all of that, but there is still plenty of work to do. I can promise
you that the world is a factory. The sun stirs it, the humans rule it. And I remain. I carry them
away” (531). By implying that this is just how the world works—the sun spinning around,
humans in control, and Death lingering. There is nothing Death can do about that; that is just
the way it is. He is a part of this world and has no control over the rules of it. He only
controls how he tells Liesel’s story and the space he can claim in it. The world is larger than
Death, and the way it works is natural. This can be perceived as the author wanting to provide
the reader with a relaxed feeling towards Death.
Death uses his own style when narrating the story, providing information with, among
others, lists and definitions. For instance, Death presents a list of three irresponsible acts
Rudy does: “1. He stole the biggest potato from Mamer’s, the local grocer. 2. Taking on
Franz Deutscher on Munich Street. 3. Skipping the Hitler Youth meetings altogether” (Zusak
294). Here, the list works as an introduction to tell the reader what will happen in the chapter.
Another example is a definition, “not-leaving: An act of trust and love, often deciphered by
children” (Zusak 43). Death uses these tools throughout the story. In this sense, they guide
the reader to make the story easier to comprehend. Phelan writes:
In other words, the approach assumes that (a) texts are designed by authors to affect
readers in particular ways; (b) those authorial designs are conveyed through theRönn 23
words, techniques, elements, structures, forms, and dialogic relations of texts as well
as the genres and conventions readers use to understand them; and (c) those authorial
designs are also deeply influenced by the nature of their audiences and their activity in
responding to the unfolding communication. (91)
Here, Phelan talks about the rhetorical approach to narration and the ways texts are used by
authors. Zusak designed the novel—using Death as the narrator as well as the stylistic
choices of lists and definitions—to affect the reader in a specific way. These authorial
designs affect how the story is perceived. They are choices made by the author to provide this
tragic novel with a lightened feeling. Furthermore, Temin and Dahl argue, “if we think about
collective agents grappling with the enduring legacies of historically rooted wrongs as
characters in a story, then the plot structure connecting past (the historical wrong), present
(attempts to address it), and future (its resolution or escalation) becomes central to how they
confront the burdens of political responsibility” (907). What they write brings attention to the
importance of recognizing the political responsibility of a text. In The Book Thief, there is a
responsibility to address the historical context in a certain way. It is important to tell the story
in a particular way to portray the historical wrong and the consequences it had. Zusak chose
to use Death to tell the story of Liesel in World War II. He describes the sadness and horror
of the historical context but in an alleviating way. The choice made by Zusak to create Death
this way greatly affects how the story is perceived and acknowledges the political
responsibility it has.
Additionally, the designs—such as lists and definitions—which are used to tell the
story might specifically target a young adult audience. The Book Thief is about a young girl
coming of age and can therefore be considered a young adult novel. Thein and Sulzer write,
“an implied reader who identifies with the narratee might hold prototypically adolescent
attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge, thereby needing and appreciating the explanation that theRönn 24
narrator offers” (49). The lists and definitions could be appreciated by the reader because
Death offers an extra explanation of things. For example, a list stating facts about Stalingrad,
“1. In 1942 and early ‘43, in the city, the sky was bleached bed-sheet white each morning. 2.
All day long, as I carried the souls across it … 3. In the evening, it would be wrung out … 4.
And that was when the fighting was only during the day” (Zusak 110). Death is, overall,
explaining things in detail. All the lists and definitions are ways to make the story pleasant
and resourceful. It is important in a story set in this historical context to be pedagogic because
of the responsibility to tell it in a certain way. In The Book Thief, Death as the narrator must
tell Liesel’s story of her experiences in World War II in a way the audience can comprehend
and appreciate. Accordingly, these tools of Death make him seem less scary. The designs
make it more palatable for young adults as a Holocaust text. In addition, it provides an
educational aspect to the story as well as using pathos to tell it well.
Additionally, Ebert and Meyvis research the emotion of an audience reading fictional
stories and write, “consistent with our hypothesis, readers of an engaging sad story were
surprisingly insensitive to the distancing information” (797). In this case, it might be that
portraying a historical context is distancing information that makes it harder for an audience
to grasp. In The Book Thief, Death, as an alleviating being, portrays a historical situation that
could be very distant from an audience. Consequently, Death is not only making the sadness
of the story more bearable—he is also illustrating a historical distant event. Ebert and Meyvis
later continue, “although forecasters predicted less intense emotional reactions when reading
about a distant (fictional) event than when reading about a proximal (real) event, experiencers
actually reported equally intense emotional reactions when they believed the story was
fictional as when they believed it was real” (797). Here, it is evident that even though a
distant event and a near event show equal emotional reactions to a text, it demonstrates that it
does not matter if the story is real or not. The emotional reaction of a text is equivalent;Rönn 25
however, it depends on how the story is written. The Book Thief is written in a very specific
way, where a tragic story is purposefully alleviated. While the distance of the historical
context is making it less graspable, Death is the one who makes the story light-hearted.
Death’s role in the novel affects how the text is perceived. Through miraculous
events, Zusak’s choice of portraying Death in a certain way, and the political responsibility of
the text, Death becomes an important character in a tragic story. As a narrator, Death, and the
space he takes in the novel, alleviates it, and makes it palatable for a large audience. Without
Death’s narrative space, the perception of the story would be very different. For instance, if
Liesel was to be the narrator, a lot of her sadness would be intensified. She has had many
difficult experiences in her life—to read about them from her perspective would make the
novel more tragic.Rönn 26
5. Conclusion
Death’s narration and the space he holds in The Book Thief can be analysed further.
The novel contains many interesting investigation possibilities and to fit them all in one essay
would be impossible. The research of Death’s role in the novel could be continued in
different directions. One example is to examine Death as a religious character, or a force
separate from church depictions. It could be discussed if Death is perceived as someone seen
in all human culture no matter background or a product of western Christian beliefs. It would
be specifically interesting to analyse how Death perceives God’s role in the historical context
of World War II. Looking further into this, the research would gain a whole new dimension
of analysis to the space of Death in the novel. Another example is to look more carefully at
stylistic choices like speech and grammar. This is something Zusak uses in a lot of ways and
it has an impact on the perception of the novel. Considering Banfield’s theories in
“Unspeakable Sentences: Narration and Representation in the Language of Fiction,” about
the notion of point of view and the difference between showing and telling—relating it to
represented speech and grammar—is something the research could benefit from. The novel
also contains many visual art elements that could be analysed in relation to stylistic choices
made by the author. For instance, Zusak uses a part of the novel to illustrate a sketchbook
Max makes for Liesel—containing drawings and handwritten text. Additionally, comparisons
between the novel and the movie would be interesting in terms of how much space Death is
given in each—how narration differs between the two. For instance, the movie version,
directed by Brian Percival, does not reveal Death’s identity until the end of the story. Here, it
could be interesting to research why that choice is made, even if it is implied from the
beginning. There is a lot of analysis to be further made on the differences between the
director and Zusak.Rönn 27
This research of Death and the effect he has on the story can alter the way people
perceive this kind of narrator. Death is an unusual type of narrator in that he is fantastic and
takes up a lot of space in the novel; this results in that he uses his narrative space to provide a
light-heartedness to the tragic story. Accordingly, through this research, it is evident that this
kind of narrator can be beneficial in telling a sensitive story because it can ease the tragic
plot. Considering the novel’s environment and its historical setting, the story becomes
relevant in a larger context. Death as the narrator of a story of World War II in Germany
makes it particularly relevant. This is also one of the things that make the novel incredibly
tragic. However, Death’s narrative space alleviates the intensity of how this plot is perceived.
By loosening the grip of the tragedy of the novel, it can tell a story containing heavy topics to
a larger audience. There is a political responsibility to talk about this historical context in a
certain way—and because Death is the narrator—the novel succeeded in that. Death portrays
a broad perspective of World War II and its effect on the world; he adjusts how he tells the
story to become palatable for a wider audience.
To write about death in any circumstance can be tricky as it is abstract; we do not
know what happens when we die. However, through this research, it is proven that a narrator
like Death can tell a story about death from another perspective in many ways. To read about
dying from Death himself is special and can be very grim. In The Book Thief, reading about
death, as a concept, is the opposite. It can make dying seem less scary. In literature, it is up to
the author to decide how to write about death and how much space death should be given.
Depending on the story, audience, and field, it may or may not be favourable to give death a
lot of space. For instance, The Book Thief would be very different and have a narrower
audience if Death had told this story in a harsh and burdensome way. However, in my
research, the way Zusak portrayed Death—in his narrative space—proves that it can beRönn 28 important to tell a tragic story differently. To be able to change this kind of novel, for it to be perceived in another way, using a narrator like Death can be very effective.
Rönn 29
Works Cited
Almeida de Oliveira, Débora, and Sandra Sirangelo Maggio. “The Deadly Perception of the
Witness: Focalization in Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief.” Ilha Do Desterro, vol. 70,
no. 1, 2017, pp. 135-142. EBSCOhost, doi:10.5007/2175-8026.2017v70n1p135.
Accessed 2 March 2021.
Ardagh, Philip. “It’s a Steal.” The Guardian, 2007,
www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jan/06/featuresreviews.guardianreview26.
Accessed 21 May 2021.
Banfield, Ann. “Unspeakable Sentences: Narration and Representation in the Language of
Fiction.” Theory of the novel: A Historical Approach. Ed. Michael McKeon. The
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. 515-536.
Brennan, Bernadette. “Literature and the Intimate Space of Death.” Antipodes, vol. 22, no. 2,
2008, pp. 103–109. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41957713. Accessed 5 March 2021.
Cohn, Dorrit. “Transparent Minds: Narrative Modes for Presenting Consciousness in
Fiction.” Theory of the Novel: A Historical Approach. Ed. Michael McKeon. The
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. 493-514.
Domínguez-Rué, Emma. “Shaking Words: Memoir as Confrontation in Markus Zusak’s The
Book Thief.” Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture & History, vol. 25, no. 4, 2019,
pp. 514–527. EBSCOhost, doi: 10.1080/17504902.2018.1471640. Accessed 2 March
2021.
Ebert, Jane E. J., and Tom Meyvis. “Reading Fictional Stories and Winning Delayed Prizes: The
Surprising Emotional Impact of Distant Events.” Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 41,
no. 3, 2014, pp. 794–809. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/677563. Accessed 11
July 2021.You can also read
