The Small Details

[Emma Kaer]

Death continuously includes small details that seem of unimportance in the long duration of the story. I realized this while reading about Liesel's first actual interaction with Max. During Death's narrations he highlights the fact that when Max first grabs Liesel's his hands are still warm from sleeping for so long. "The stranger reached out, his bed-warmed hand taking her by the forearm" (Zusak 206) Soon after Max seems to realize what has happened to him, repeatedly saying to Liesel the word "please". At the end of the chapter he includes, "Max's fingers started cooling" (Zusak 206) This is a seemingly unimportant detail, like many others that are scattered throughout the book, that I believe have to do with the character realizing something. In this part of the book it's Max realizing where he was, and how basically his whole life has changed and, most likely, not for the better. 

[jackh]

I also noticed how many small details that would be completely unmissed if they were gone. My thoughts are that the author included these details to show a level of complexity that we may not have otherwise realized was there, as well as to add to the story and make it feel more authentic. This book was spoiled early in the beginning, and the narrator even acknowledged it, so the must have decided that the story must have been more about journey than the destination. One could read the entire book, except for the ending, and still feel content with the story line and progression. Many simpler books are all about the ending, and would be a completely different story if the end were changed. In this book however, Liesel could have died, Max could have died, Rudy could have lived, and many other things could have been changed, but the story is still the same.