2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

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Extended Essay

English A: Literature

The relationship between Liesel and Death is intended to reflect the relationship that the reader themselves establish with Liesel. Death throughout the narrative asks many of the same questions and experiences many of the same emotions that the reader – or humanity as a whole – experiences in regards to tragedy such as the Holocaust. By having Death employ the same perspective that the reader would undertake, Zusak is able to proffer an empathetic stance from Death, that is then able to be reciprocated by the reader. Death’s relationship with Liesel, and the instances through which it is explored in The Book Thief, successfully eliminate the concept of fear surrounding Death’s personification, and truly humanises the character. Conclusion Markus Zusak’s decision to implement the character of Death as the narrator in The Book Thief allows readers to establish a unique interpretation of Death. By characterising his narrator as a being that experiences human emotions, Zusak removes the element of fear that has historically permeated personifications. The characterisation of Death in this novel is an intrinsic exploration into the personality of a being whom holds the weight of the world on his shoulders. His yearning to understand the ‘beauty and brutality’ of humanity allows him to connect with both the characters and the reader on an emotional level, and provide his own understanding of the atrocities that permeated the Second World War. By evaluating the traditional characterisations of Death, investigating the perception the character has of his own role and finally associating Death and Liesel’s relationship with the reader’s ability to humanise the character, this essay has been able to show that ‘even Death has a heart’ (p.262).

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