ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Love Videos 61 videos
You might be hearing a chorus of farewells if you recommend A Farewell to Arms as the next read for your Fabulously Feisty Feminist Book Club.
Aren't midsummer night dreams the worst? You wake up all sweaty and gross, and for a minute there, you can't even remember where you are. And also,...
We're not sure if good ol' Shakespeare would endorse The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, but that's not going to stop us from hosting themed viewing...
The Book Thief 79475 Views
Share It!
Description:
In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief , Death narrates the story of one girl who lived during the Holocaust. Not surprisingly, it's kind of a downer—but Death itself is surprisingly snarky. Why did Zusak use death as the narrator? And why would he make it sarcastic? Shmoop amongst yourselves; we'll just be over in the corner, sobbing into a box of Kleenex.
Transcript
- 00:04
The Book Thief, a la Shmoop. For fairly obvious reasons. . .
- 00:10
. . . Death isn't a real popular guy
- 00:12
In fact, most people avoid him like... well, like the plague.
- 00:19
So, if he's such an outcast. . .
- 00:22
. . .how did he end up narrating The Book Thief?
Full Transcript
- 00:25
Well, one thing he's got going for him. . .
- 00:27
. . .is his ability to hang out aaaanywhere he wants to.
- 00:30
And that allows him to listen in on conversations. . .
- 00:33
. . .or observe multiple locations without a problem.
- 00:37
No way a mere mortal could do that. Since the book is about the darkest time in
- 00:43
human history. . .
- 00:44
. . .maybe letting Death tell the story. . .
- 00:45
. . .is a way of reminding us of all that suffering.
- 00:49
With his presence on every page. . .
- 00:50
. . .it's pretty tough to forget.
- 00:52
And even though he seems to have no control over the outcome. . .
- 00:55
. . .his constant presence is, at the very least, unnerving.
- 01:00
And while we're on the subject of unnerving. . .
- 01:03
Death is surprisingly humorous and sarcastic . .
- 01:05
. . .while observing the horror of the Holocaust. So, how does he get away with trying to be
- 01:10
funny? Could be that's the very reason he's doing
- 01:15
the talking.
- 01:16
He's good at injecting a little "black" humor. . .
- 01:18
. . . into an unrelentingly sad situation. . .
- 01:21
. . which gives readers a chance to come up for air.
- 01:24
Plus, even though he feels bad about the pain war inflicts on people. . .
- 01:28
. . .and his part in it. . .
- 01:30
. . .he's not human. He's simply an impartial bystander. . .
- 01:33
. . .watching and commentating on all the ugliness around him.
- 01:36
Since he doesn't have a horse in the race. . .
- 01:38
. . . he can afford to be less emotional about what's going down.
- 01:41
Human characters would have a tough time doing that.
- 01:45
So, why is Death narrating The Book Thief? Is it because he can be everywhere and see
- 01:51
every-thing? Is he on every page to remind us of all the
- 01:54
pain and suffering of the Holocaust? Is he there to inject dark humor and caustic
- 01:58
observations? Or is he just an impartial onlooker making
- 02:02
us take a hard look at ourselves? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Related Videos
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...
