Life Through the Eyes of Death

Of all the novels I've read in my life, Death is definitely the most unique omniscient narrator to ever tell me a story. While no one has ever met Death, I feel that Zusak was able to capture the personality of what I assume Death would be like. He is experienced, witty, yet at the same time detached from his horrible fate of eternal life thats only filled with tears and darkness. Its perspective is that of someone who has seen the rise and fall of human kind, the tragic loss of every person, and both the terrible and beautiful sides of the human existence.

Death faces conflicts both internally and externally. Its conflict in this book is stated nearly immediately, when it says that he shouldn't have looked, shouldn't have taken an interest in Liesel, but he couldn't help himself. Death is surprisingly connected to the characters in the book, though it doesn't really fit in the job description. Its opinions on the Nazi regime and the wrath it brought unto the world are not directly expressed, but its comments show remorse for the victims of such tragedies. Death seems to see the hiding of Max as tragic, and seems to find hope in Liesel. It sees the foolishness in the blind obedience put forth by many Germans, and the promise in Hans Hubermann for not giving in.

I personally enjoy the perspective and experience Death brings to the novel. It has been able to see events in history even bloodier than World War II, which allows it to look beyond the shock of millions losing their lives and see human motivations and consider the importance of a young foster child growing up in the middle of all of it.

A Little Bit About Me

My name is Kevin Waldman, and I'm a sophomore here at Ship. I am an Economics major, and one day hope to work as a financial advisor for a business. I live in Naugle hall, and I'm originally from Enola, which is right outside of Harrisburg. In high school I was on the cross country and track teams, mainly focusing on the 2 mile race in track. I have 2 brothers, one younger and one older.Here at school I'm not really involved in many clubs but I am on an intramural soccer team and softball team. The last book I read was The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. I was interested in this course because i've like the literature courses i've taken in the past, and thought this one would be a little different. To me a culturally diverse class of any type should introduce students to customs and historical events they would not have been exposed to otherwise. I feel like this is important for everyone to do at some point in their life because you don't know very much about yourself and your surroundings until you see life through another person's perspective.