2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

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Extended Essay

English A: Literature

This distinction is an essential concept, because not only does it allow the reader to comprehend Death's motivations throughout the narrative, it also acts to humanise Death. The perception that Death is unwittingly blamed to be the agent, rather than the observer, increases the audience’s ability to empathise with the character. The forcibly impassive attitude with which Death undertakes his work indicates to the reader the narrator’s distinctiveness. Death approaches his role as one would approach a difficult and draining job. He is reluctant about the work that he does but is unable to change it; because, as he intones, ‘… who could ever replace [him]? Who could step in while [he] take[s] a break in your stock-standard resort style holiday destination?’ (p.5). His existence is thus spent ‘having the endless ability to be in the right place at the right time’ (p. 522), witnessing every aspect of humanity and their choices. The blunt and cold personality that Death outwardly expresses is what would be expected of him in this role – a two-dimensional being with muted emotions, carrying out his job of collecting souls with neutrality. This persona is a mask that Death creates to prevent himself from becoming emotionally invested in the lives of the souls he collects, or the humans he witnesses. He attempts to uphold his mask, and utilises his interest in the colours of the world in order to ‘distract [himself] from humanity’ (p.5). However, the fact that he has to force himself to ‘make distraction [his] holiday’ (p.5) indicates his tendency to gravitate away from his prescribed role towards that which holds his interest: specifically, the lives of the survivors. Although Death strives to ensure he performs his role with his stoic façade, the colours that he uses as distractions are not sufficient enough to ignore the human emotions of those left behind after somebody dies. The reasoning behind Death’s aversion to the stories of the survivors is his identification that they are reflective of himself. Death is fascinated by humanity's emotions and decisions, but despite his perceived omniscience, he does not have an understanding of why humans do what they do. All his knowledge is obtained from his personal experiences and the stories he collects, such as Liesel’s. Perhaps the most significant of Death’s statements is on the final page of the novel, in which he comes to the realisation that he is ‘haunted by humans’ (p.584). Although Death strives to understand and associate with humanity, investing in the stories of the survivors exposes him to not only positive human

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