"Again, I offer you a glimpse of the end. Perhaps it's to soften the blow for later, or to better prepare myself for the telling," (497)
I find it interesting that Death says he needs to tell us some of the things that are going to happen at the end in order to prepare himself when telling the story. Does he mean that it is going to be easier for him because he doesn't have to explain a lot or because it will be easier emotionally?
I think that by saying such an extreme thing, Zusak wants to really grab the attention of the reader. Now that Hans finally comes home and that the Hubermanns are happy, the reader isn't very engaged in the book. By giving such an important detail, the reader becomes very interested in the book.
ReplyDeleteI think that death tells us beforehand when people die so it's not such a surprise later on in the book, which I guess makes everything easier emotionally too when we get to the points that people die.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, Katia, I think that when Death says he feels the need to "prepare [himself] for the telling", I think he means to be prepared emotionally for a couple of reasons. First, because he says to "soften the blow for later", clearly referring to the reader at first, but then he says, "or to better prepare myself for the telling," as if he may need this more so than the reader does. I also think of it as an emotional preparation because of my overall perspective of Death. I feel that Death actually thoroughly enjoys knowing and continually retelling this story of Liesel, so I feel that he doesn't see explaining as a chore, but as more of a pastime.
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