Alexandria W’s Comments (group member since Oct 24, 2016)

Alexandria W’s comments from the The Commendable Coterie group.

In response to Emma, Death as a symbolism for reality is a really good way to put it. He sees both the compassion of humans from Hans and his family but he also sees how chaotic and harmful humans can be from the setting of the novel, Nazi Germany. He sees the reality of humans nature. Death says “I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race — that rarely do I ever simply estimate it", the reality of human nature is confusing for Death and in turn can make him question if they are in fact worthy of their existence.

Erica wrote: "Luke wrote: "Julianna C wrote: "Emma wrote: "Max's book "The Standover Man" is powerful in many ways. The book starts off as the man being corrupt, than transitions the "man" into Liesel, which is ..."
I agree with this as well, i think Death can can be considered a standover man. Max says " the best standover man Ive ever known is not a man at all", in reference to Liesel, he sees her as a safe place and a companion. With this definition of a standover man, Death also fits because he can be interpreted as a companion when taking in to mind his sympathetic nature towards the human souls he takes. When Max wrote this story on the pages of Mein Kampf, i think it shows how his and Liesel's bond and companionship is stronger than Hitler and the Nazi party, who terrorize Max into hiding.

I think it is highly symbolic when Death observes the colors around him when taking a human lives During the scene when Liesel's brother is being buried, Death sees a "blinding white", this can represent purity because a child was being buried. Death uses colors to make his job of taking souls less stressful and almost serve as a distraction for Death. He has a liking towards "dark chocolate" colored skies, they suit him because of the darkness in the concept of death. These are only a few of the tons of examples of symbolism using color in the novel.

In response to Annaclaire, i think Zusak definitely intends for Death to take on a role with a more complex personality than typically perceived. Death in the novel is far from the stereotypical view of Death as a skeleton in a rob. Death as the narrator provides a unique perspective for the story to be told and the way he tells it with sarcastic remarks and how he almost nonchalantly mentions taking souls has a certain effect on the reader rather than if it was told traditionally in first person from a character.

In response to Luke, Death's answer to his question is very sarcastic and he assumes the reader knows where the footprints came from, but its kind of unclear. I thought maybe he was being literal because Robert no longer has feet, but i could also see it as Death referring to his own footsteps to gather the soul. (pg.470)

Somewhere i noticed contrast that wasn't mentioned specifically was between Liesel and Max. Both characters have been through the trauma of losing their families and frequently have nightmares in which they bond over. Although these two share many similarities they are two very different people. Max must stay hidden and he has always been stood over by others. After Max gives Liesel "The Standover Man" she discovers from the first page that Max fears the people who have always stood over him and told him what to do. On the other hand , although she has experienced loss and hardship "You could argue that Liesel Meminger had it easy" (161), for obvious reasons such as she could go out in public whenever unlike Max.