THE BOOK THIEF Prologue, Part One (cont.)
II. Personification-Personification is a device in which an author grants human quali-
ties to nonhuman objects or concepts. For example, in this novel. death is personified
and given the attributes of thoughts and emotions:
I buckled-I became interested. In the girl. Curiosity got the
better of me, and I resigned myself to stay as long as my schedule
allowed, and I watched.
How does the use of personification shape the reader's reactions to Death? What is
surprising or unexpected about the author's personification of this universal condition?