The Depiction of Themes About Death Within Literature

Death is one of the most popular themes portrayed in literature. Represented in works including William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, the dark concept has intrigued humans for centuries. The themes about death creates an interesting atmosphere that surrounds the novel's overarching narrative. The characters within the story, in addition to the readers themselves, are affected when this theme is introduced. For instance, the novels The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban possess a distinct thematic similarity of witnessing death first-hand, which influences the narration of the story, the protagonist’s lives, and the world around them. 

The method and style in which the books are written are affected by the caliginous topic of death themes within the story. In the exposition of Zusak’s novel, the reader is introduced to the narrator, which is the personification of death. The narrator gives an interesting view of happenings throughout the book, especially in the case of their personal notes, which are separate from the main paragraphs of the book. An exemplar would be when Death states, “Still, they have one thing I envy. Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die.” In this passage, the narrator is giving their opinion on humans’ ability to die, which, ironically, death envies. Annotations similar to this one add to the mysterious aspect of the novel, as some of the comments are about solemn topics including dying and the seizing of souls. 

There is a theme surrounding death in The Book Thief, so having a narrator that is directly related to the deaths of characters plays a significant role in the storytelling of the novel. In Riddley Walker, the protagonist speaks in a disturbing manner. For instance, “Whats so terbel its jus that knowing of the horrer in every thing. The horrer waiting. I dont know how to say it. Like say you myt get cut bad and all on a suddn there you are with your leg opent up and youre looking at the mussl fat and boan of it. You all ways knowit what wer unner the skin only you dont want to see that bloody meat and boan. Never mynd”. In this passage, Riddley sounds calm and understanding even as he speaks about a serious topic. When he says “I don’t know how to say it”, he obviously does not know how to explain his morbid ideas well, but he tries anyway. He is comfortable speaking about injuries, and most definitely other solemn topics. Riddley is only twelve years old, but his mind is filled with dark memories and information too mature for his age. In both novels, the narrator’s sinister tone plays a significant role in the portayment of the novels’ shared theme. 

In both The Book Thief and in Riddley Walker, the lives of the protagonists are impacted by the tragic events they have witnessed. For instance, near the exposition of the book, the narrator explains the street that Liesel moves to, “Whoever named Himmel Street has a healthy sense of irony. Not that it was a living hell. It wasn't. But it sure wasn't heaven, either”. Liesel is forced to move to another household, where she had to build new relationships after her brother and parents were taken away from her by either death or relocation. This passage displays her surroundings by giving the opinion of the narrator, not Liesel. Comparably, Riddley was ordered to move away from his home after being forced to involuntarily to take over the job of his lifeless father. As he says, “Back then I never 1ce ben on that hy groun sholder oansome. Never ben any where at all oansome. Never in my woal life put foot outside a fents without at leas 5 mor for dog safe. I ben saving up that hy groun in my mynd tho. Thinking may be some time there myt come a time Iwd chance it oansome”. “Oansome” is Riddley’s way of saying that he is alone. In this passage, he is explaining how he had never been alone before, so moving to a whole new place is a big step for him. This is analogous to how Liesel felt when she first moved to Himmel street. The deaths of both Riddley and Liesel’s parents resulted in the protagonists of these novels having to adjust to new situations, lifestyles, and locations. Within the two books, the atmosphere and the way the protagonist perceives their surroundings is impacted by their dark pasts. The narrator describes Liesel’s actions before entering the Hubermann house in the first chapter of the novel, “A gang of tears trudged from her eyes as she held on and refused to go inside. [...] Eventually, Liesel Meminger walked gingerly inside. Hans Hubermann had her by one hand. Her small suitcase had her by the other”. This passage is a favourable representation of how the recent death of Liesel’s brother affects her actions. The description of her walking inside “gingerly” suggests that the unfortunate events of her recent past are affecting the way that she thinks and acts in her new environment. In Riddley’s case, it is evident that he has to mature quickly to cope with his new life away from home without a parental figure. The protagonist learns something new wherever he goes, quickly adapting to his current situation. His “clevverness” grows stronger as he travels, and he slowly becomes wise and philosophical as the end of the book nears. Just after the climax of the novel, Riddley proves his mind to be profoundly deep when he says, “The worl is ful of things waiting to happen. Thats the meat and boan of it right there. You myt think you can jus go here and there doing nothing. Happening nothing. You cant tho you bleeding cant. You put your self on any road and some thing wil show its self to you. Wanting to happen. Waiting to happen. You myt say, 'I dont want to know.' But 1ce its showt its self to you you wil know wont you. You cant not know no mor. There it is and working in you. You myt try to put a farness be twean you and it only you cant becaws youre carrying it inside you. The waiting to happen aint out there where it ben no mor its inside you”. Riddley explains how you cannot control anything that happens, and even when you think that there is a choice, you “[can’t] not know”. As previously mentioned, this intelligence is the aftermath of Riddley’s need to mature after the death of his father. The two protagonists learn and react to their surroundings in very different ways based on their experiences with death. While Liesel was emotionally hurt, Riddley learned new truths during his independent adventures. The Book Thief and Riddley Walker both have a prominent theme of witnessing death first-hand, which has an impact on many aspects of the novel.

The way that the books are written have a dark mood influenced by death that is apparent by analyzing how the narrator thinks and shares their ideas. The lives of the protagonists are affected by this theme, as the deaths forced both of the main characters to adjust to a new lifestyle. Finally, the deaths affect how the protagonists act during certain events and in specific environments.