Personification In The Book Thief

390. Personification is the technique wherein a non-human character is given human thoughts, feelings, and dialogue. Illustrate how this technique is used in your favourite novel or short story.

“Even Death has a heart”

One of my favourite personifications in literature is the personification of death in “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. In this novel, Death is the one who tells the story and is also a character in the story, which begins by Death presenting himself to the reader. This technique creates a really strong bond between the book and the reader, since the narrator addresses directly to the reader. It is also a way of captivating the reader, who, by being directly addressed to, feels like he has his own place in the story and gets

The first sentences of the novel are directly addressed to the reader, who is assured by Death that he is not the evil entity the reader might expect. He presents himself as being capable of feeling and as having human characteristics, even being better than some actual humans are. He says he is “amiable, agreeable, affable” then he adds “And that’s only the A’s”, which is another technique used to get closer to the reader: humor.

Zusak’s personification of death has a quite didactic function and one might say it is meant to teach children what death is without traumatizing them. In The Book Thief, Death is like a friend to both the reader and the characters. The narrator (Death) begins the story by telling us (the readers) how much of a human-like entity he is. In his review of the book for New York Times, John Green describes this introduction:

“This is no Grim Reaper — we have here a kinder, gentler Death, who feels sympathy for his victims. As Death himself puts it on Page 1: `I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that 's only the A 's.`" (Green,