The Book Thief Death Quotes

We quote this passage to show you those who didn't die – Liesel and Max. Were you surprised when Max walks through the door of Alex Steiner's tailor shop? If not, how did you see it coming?

It might be unnerving to hear Death addressing us so plainly. But he's not really telling us anything we don't know. Rather, he's expressing his vision of humans as sharing a common identity in our mortality.

That's German for Communist, as you can infer. The Communist Party was a legitimate political party in Germany with sizeable membership. Communists were definitely against Hitler and the Nazis and therefore would suffer a squashing. Although the facts are murky on this topic, Liesel's family is punished because of her father's identity as a Communist.