Death

Death is what some of us fear. There are others who embrace and welcome him. No one

can simply cheat or escape him, except Hans Hubermann who did it twice. Nonetheless, we all are

going to die as Death puts it, "Here is a small fact. You are going to die" [Zusak pg 3].

Death is constantly watching everyone. Since he is watching everyone, he becomes

all-knowing. In "The Book Thief", he is basically the all-seeing narrator and is

symbolized as an omniscient guide. He helps the reader understand the book and the events that

happened in it. He also tells the reader about himself but not a lot.

In his diary, Death describes his appearance. He did this to tell the audience, that he is not a

stereotypical Grim Reaper, "I do not carry a sickle or scythe. I only wear a hooded black robe when

it's cold. And I don't have those skull-like facial features" [Zusak pg 307]. "You want to know what

I truly look like? Find a mirror while I continue" [Zusak pg 307], he shows the audience that he

looks like everyone else; human. He also has emotions like humans.

A person would not expect Death to care for his victims, let alone have feelings. When he

stated that even he has heart, that shows something, "Even Death has a heart" [Zusak pg 242]. He

even goes as far as caring how his victims die, "It kills me sometimes how people die" [Zusak pg

404].

Of all the age groups, Death cared about the children the most. When he was carrying the

children's souls, he didn't throw them over his shoulder, but rather carefully in his arms, "Or I'd

throw them over my shoulder. It was only the children I carried in my arms" [Zusak pg 336].

Death's heart is special. It caused him to see the best and worst in people at right moments.

He can also see the beauty and the ugliness of people too, "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. …. I'm always

finding humans at their best and worst. I can see their ugly and their beauty" [Zusak pg 491].

Rosa Hubermann was a nice woman but she has a few things that are ugly and beautiful. The

ugly thing about her was that she calls almost everyone Saukerl, Saumensch and Arschloch. She

mainly called Hans and Liesel one of these names. Rosa had two beautiful things about her. The first

one was that she was able to resolve problems, "She was a good woman in a crisis" [Zusak pg 211].

The second one was that she cared for her family.

Just like his wife, Hans had a few ugly and beautiful things. But those things were not like

Rosa's . The one beautiful thing about him was that he cared for Liesel. When she had her

nightmares, he would go and comfort her. He also helped her with her reading and writing.

The ugly of him? Well, he didn't try to reconnect with his son. After their argument, his

son, Hans Jr. left. He never went back to see his family not even for any of the major holidays. And

yet Hans never tried to contact him and make up.

Liesel, she's special. The beautiful and ugly things she had basically defines

how she was in the book. The beautiful part of her was that she cared about everyone. When Max was sick, she would go out and look for presents. She would also give him "weather reports". It

shows that she goes out of her way for people she cared for.

The ugly part of Liesel was that she stole books. Yes, she did it for pleasure. But she

repeatedly went to Mrs. Hermann's house and took her books. Liesel shouldn't have gone to the old

lady's house and taken her belongings.

Here's Liesel's best friend Rudy. The beautiful thing about him was that when he showed

off, he only did enough to prove something. Which was a good thing. Besides he never overdid it.

The ugly part was that he stole food from farmers. Yes, he did it because he was hungry. But

those farmers needed to feed their families and make a living. Sooner or later, he will get caught by a

farmer. Then he would have to suffer the consequences for his actions.

Mrs. Hermann definitely had a beautiful side. Her ugly? Well it's a little bit hard to find. She

let Liesel read in her library. This was the beautiful thing about her. She even offered Liesel a book.

But she declined to take the ugly of Mrs. Hermann. The only ugly she really had was that she

almost always watched Liesel. Why did she watched her? It's weird for an old lady or man to

constantly watch the same person.

Finally it's time for Max. The things that make him beautiful and ugly were special. Just like

everyone else's The ugly thing about him was that he used to fight a lot. First of all, why would he

fight so many people when he was a teen. It was not like he had something to prove to them. He

only had to prove something to one person, that was it.

The thing that was beautiful about him was that he cared for Liesel. He made two books for

Liesel. And she gave him thirteen presents when he was sick. That showed he cared enough to make

two homemade books.

How can Death be haunted by humans? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Good

questions and yes humans can be haunted by Death. There are some people who even fear him. The

thing is, even Death can be haunted by humans. But why though?

Well, during this particular time, he had seen how much destruction they caused. He also

had seen how much damage was put into the land and another culture. Because of how much

destruction he had seen, he was being continuously haunted by the human race.

Death has been with humans since day one. So Death had seen the best, the worst, the ugly

and the beautiful in all humans; alive and dead. He also had seen the great destruction that humans

made. But for one thing, humans can not avoid him. No matter what. It is their destiny.