Death's Comment

On page 528, Death remarks "I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right." After digesting the striking comment, I realized just how monumental Death's words are. From all moments in the novel, and through all the narration I recall, the aforementioned remark is the one time where I find Death closer to us humans, and less "God-like". I find that the humility the protrudes out of Zusak's words is cause for readers to realize that Death, while often times obscure, is only a figure, only something that happens to everyone, and is only, well, Death. It is not some reckoning force that decides our futures, it does not decide the college we attend, nor does it decided who our friends in school are. Death does not choose our endings; we choose our endings. Death, in all his glory, is not perfect. He, quite simply, was not able to tell a flawless story in regards to his narration of the novel. Death is only an end; he is not a beginning, nor is he a middle. Through all of Zusak's clever writing that made TBT so memorable, I was starting to inflate Death's value. However, with such a meaningful statement on Death's part about his inability to stay immune to emotions, be perfect, and try to tell the story as correctly as possible, I find that my understanding of the end for all of us is slightly more complex, and slightly more forgiving to the man in the black cloak. Zusak, if nothing else, helped me realize what we are all prone to. And I thank him and his lovely narrator for that.