Death's Ways…

“No one wanted to bomb Himmel Street. No one would bomb a place named after heaven, would they? Would they?” (497).

Death plays 2 characters in this quote. He does the job of both mocking and insulting the human race in this quote.

At first, he plays a person who doesn’t believe truth or doesn’t want to see it. This is an ironic statement by Death, since he is an omniscient figure in the book. I believe that this was not coincidental, but only Death’s way of mocking humans’ inability to accept the truth. Not only does he portray his act of irony, but his mentioning of “bombing Himmel Street” can most definitely be seen as a foreshadow.

Towards the end of the quote, Death acts paranoid, questioning the status of Himmel Street’s outcome. His repetition of "would they?", twice, emphasizes the character he tries to imitate. Knowing from experience of his fondness of humans (not much), I can see why he would put on such a face. His paranoia again mocks the attitude of humans, who are naturally (stereotype) worried about everything. His sarcasm may seem like constructive criticism and compassion at the beginning, but I soon realized that his goal here was not to help, but only to hurt.