The Book Thief

describe 3 time death gets so close to liesel and explain the color associations death makes. why white? why red? why black?

Death's associations with liesel

Asked by
Last updated by jill d #170087
Answers 1
Add Yours

Death sees colors as a distraction from the survivors, "I do, however, try to enjoy every color I see--the whole spectrum... It takes the edge off the stress. It helps me relax." Death encounters Liesel three times, and he describes three colors that are significant during those encounters: white, from the snow outside when Liesel's brother died; black, from the night sky when the American pilot crashed his plane; and red, from the sky during the firebombing that took the lives of everyone on Liesel's street.

In the novel's prologue, Death notes these colors in the Nazi flag: a black swastika in a white circle surrounded by a field of red. Human misery is equated with the Nazis and the symbol of their flag.

Source(s)

The Book Thief