The omniscient narrator: a subject of heated debate among scholars and everyday people for centuries. He is the Unknown, and only explains the story as it transpires. Naturally, it is discussed whether this elusive entity is a character or not. The 1st person point of view has its disadvantages as well. Sure, it shows an excellent view of the character's innermost secrets, feelings, and the like, but it is a hard medium to work with as exposition is tedious from the usual and unchanging perspective.
Thankfully, Markus Zusak (author of the well-acclaimed Book Thief) has bought an innovative and intriguing new storytelling technique—combining perspectives! In his novel, he creates an absolutely astonishingly vivid depiction of Nazi Germany by Death himself. Intricately crafted, we follow Death through his emotional metamorphosis from a simple vessel for giving us all the details in a character's form into a sympathetic and uniquely original being on his own.
At the beginning, Death is a very matter-of-fact type of "person". He is willing to give his input, but it is very minimal and usually not emotionally-driven. However, he uses the hypothetically tangible colors to distract him from his emotional disturbances. In example, "It helps me cope, considering the length of time I've been performing this job...They (the survivors of tragedies) are the ones I can't stand to look at...I deliberately seek out the colors to keep my mind off them," (pg. 4-5)
Later on, Death can be viewed as cracking under the gradually increasing weight on his shoulders. The war is killing soldiers, Jews, and poverty is rampant; so, in a deeply perturbed state, he looks toward Liesel as a human success-story in her enduring ways in times of bleak difficulties. His astounding character development shines through while showing his compassionate, benign side. "I try not to look back," he says on pg. 308, "but I never do."
By the climax of the novel, Liesel's life is torn apart when bombs kill almost everyone she knows, including her parents and the boy she loves. Death, finally succumbing to his inner torment, reveals his honest sympathy for the characters. One particularly striking moment on pg. 531 reflects on Liesel's best friend and crush, Rudy, "He does something to me, that boy...He steps on my heart. He makes me cry."
To let go of his personal demons, he reveals to Liesel his greatest fear and only weakness: "I am haunted by humans." (pg. 550)
In conclusion, I am in constant awe in how impactive and meticulously crafted Death's character was. My compliments to the author, he made an excellent decision. I can thoroughly convinced that even a narrator is his own character and that sometimes it is he that reflects you the most.