An Appealing Quote....

            While reading the Book Thief I encountered a quote that amused me but also puzzled me for hours. At the end of the novel, Death urges the reader to note that “[he] is haunted by humans” (Page 550). After being stumped for hours about the meaning of this phrase, I think I’ve finally come to understand what Death was trying to tell the reader.

            Death puts an ironic twist on the fact that most humans feel that they are haunted by death by claiming that he is haunted by humans. In other words, Death is surprised by the beauty and brutality in human nature and finds himself unable to fathom the vast range of human emotions. He is shocked by the kindness of people like Hans Hubermann to the vicious nature of a person like Hitler. Death finds himself troubled with the violent nature of humans towards their fellow man.

            The line in this novel appealed to me and is significant in my eyes because of its amusing irony and the fact that it has such a complex and impactful meaning for such a simple phrase. It also had a lingering effect on me as the reader and made me feel like I would be “haunted” by the characters in this book meaning that, just like death, I will remember the characters in The Book Thief for the rest of my life. This line is significant to the novel because Death reveals a truth that he cannot tell anyone else: that, like humans, Death also has fears.

            In today’s society, people, just like Death, may be haunted by something by being so afraid that they may let their imagination and their paranoia run wild, imagining that their worst fear could be lurking around every corner. I’ve seen people’s fear in their eyes while rapidly glancing side to side on a sidewalk or when people are peering behind every door in their house. To me, I think that this behavior is normal to an extent since everyone at some point in their lives exhibits their fears. In fact, if someone truly was fearless and was afraid of nothing, I would worry more about them rather than the person who was scared of anything that moves!