Rudy's death

Even though Rudy’s death was foreshadowed in the book numerous of times I still could not prepare myself for his death. I had known he was going to die. I had known that from the beginning. And yet knowing was not enough. Nor was it enough to overcome the surge of emotions that overwhelmed me as I gripped the pages of the book hoping, wishing, desperately pleading that my eyes had betrayed me and Rudy Steiner, poor Rudy Steiner, did not die. And no matter how delusional I could be, it still wasn’t enough to overcome the knowledge of his death. (Can anything ever be enough?) I mean really it was written out in plain English. As plain as could be. Even if my eyesight did fail me, I could still read enough to know that he had died.

However, that was much contradicted right? Isn’t it not? Knowing not enough to overcome hope and hope not enough to overcome knowing. Hmmm. I’m not making any sense, but yet I am. I guess what I’m saying is that while I hope that he didn’t die and I still know he did and nothing will ever change that (of course unless the author decided to miraculously raise him from the dead, however, I highly doubt the possibility that Markus Zusak will ever do it. Or will he?) But still, it was so unbelievably unbelievable that Rudy Steiner had just died. (Now I’m being redundant...) I guess perhaps I just can’t believe it because of my deep rooted love for him. No, I don’t love him like that, but it’s rather that I love him as a loveable, easygoing, and good natured character (okay, maybe the last part is a bit of a stretch but Rudy does have his good points here and there). And for some reason I just hate to see characters go. No hate is too wrong. It should be more somewhere along the lines of a passionate loathing or abhorrence for character deaths. It’s the one thing I absolutely hate to have to tolerate in books. Maybe, I’m just way too attached to the characters (that’s an understatement). And perhaps I am (extreme understatement). But Rudy really shouldn’t have died. He was such a good person. He was a great neighbor. He was an awesome friend. And yet he died. Rudy Steiner really did not deserve to die such a pathetic death. Actually, he doesn’t deserve to die at all. He should have been able to live a happy rest of his life. And he should have a great future ahead for him. More so he should have a great future for him and Liesel (This couple is way too cute together. And when Liesel kissed Rudy after he died only fueled my love for this pairing even more. However that fueled my hatred for his death even more as well.)

And all in all... as you can clearly interpret from my long rant, Rudy Steiner really does not deserve to die. He was one of the few characters I absolutely adored in the book. I even liked him more than I liked Liesel. He’s was that charming spark of life and charisma in the book. He was even my favorite character in the whole story. And it really sucked that he had to die. It really sucks a lot...