Friday, May 15, 2009
The act of immersion in narration
As far as i know, none of us have lived in nazi germany. therefore, it becomes the job of Markus Zusak to introduce and lead us into this unfarmiliar world. death becomes our narrator throughout this history. Death, as a foreign entity acts as something that drags you out of the real world. Therefore death must step out the door, but he leaves his foot in it. If we remain in death's world we become detached like death. And the only way to knit together the stories of these people is to include death. This paradoxical existence leads to a delicate balancing of Liesel and Death. if you were to get rid of death,you'd get lost. death facilitates flow and some of that must take you into his viewpoint for a bit. Markus Zusak, in order to keep us looking at the big picture, is forced to pull us back a bit. which might lead to not getting lost in the moment, but it also leads to a far more enjoyable experience, watching the pieces fall into place.
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I disagree with part of your comment. You said that "we become detached" but I find that through Death's interest in Liesel and her life we actually become more attached to her. But I do agree with Death being the only way to connect all parts of the story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Maddie's comment, but i have more to add. Yes, one of the reasons Death is very interested in Liesel is because of her life and the deaths around her. But when Death is narrating about Liesel's life away from his actual first-hand accounts, Death seems to be just another narrator, which does not detach us from life but seems to keep us clinging to the life of Liesel. So instead of being pulled away from life and the real world we are just pulled into a different life and a different world, one of which that is unfamiliar. Otherwise, I agree with what would say about how Death connects all the fragments of the novel together.
ReplyDeleteJack, when reading this, I found myself agreeing with you.
ReplyDeleteBecause the novel is narrated by death, (quite the opposite of life), I do find myself being pulled away from the "life" that is happening in the novel. Death has the ability to pull you out of the story and act as if you are watching everything from above.
In response to Maddie and Sarah, I agree. I do not necessarily find myself being detached from Liesel's story. But from my understanding, that's not what Jack meant here by "detachment".