What examples can you use to prove that the author uses the symbolism of colors to illustrate the moral ambiguity of humanity?

The Book Thief is filled, from beginning to end, with significant color symbolism. In the opening lines of the novel, Death, the narrator, states, “First the colors” (Zusak 7). It is clear from this remark that colors will play an important role in illustrating aspects of the story line, characters, and themes. One of the integral themes displayed through the use of color symbolism is that the course of humanity is morally ambiguous.
In the prologue, the narrator explains that most people notice the colors of the day only in the morning and the evening, but in all actuality, “a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment” (Zusak 8). This statement upholds the idea that there are many colors of the morality of human beings. There is not merely a right or a wrong; there is not simply black or white, but, rather, there are a million shades in between.
The initial chapters of the novel serve to further the importance of colors, specifically when it comes to the idea of moral ambiguity. The first time the narrator sees the book thief, the world is clothed in a blinding white. At this point in the novel, Liesel’s brother has died, leaving her and her mother shocked and silent. The whiteness of the day is described “as though the whole globe was dressed in snow. Like it had pulled it on, the way you pull on a sweater. Next to the train line, footprints were sunken to their shins. Trees wore blankets of ice” (Zusak 9). The color white, in this sense, symbolizes the innocence of both the deceased brother and of Liesel herself, first touched by the reality of death.
The next image of the book thief is shrouded in a stark contrast: the color black. In this section, Death views Liesel again, this time at the lingering death of a pilot. While the pilot moves closer to death, the narrator watches as Liesel and a young boy attempt to comfort the dying man by giving him a teddy bear. This scene is described both as “the darkest moment before the dawn” and as an eclipse (Zusak 11–12). The juxtaposition presented between the dark and the dawn and an eclipse, the sun passing in front of the moon, mirrors the idea of the innocent children (the light) comforting a Nazi pilot (the dark). Again, this displays the notion that the line between right and wrong is never totally clear. Sometimes even the greatest forces of evil deserve to be shown love and comfort.
Lastly, the narrator describes the final time he sees the book thief. He portrays this moment by stating, “The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places, it was burned. There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked across the redness” (Zusak 13). The color red is full of varied symbolism: love, violence, strength. In this section, everything that Liesel loves has been ripped apart by violence, but as her story continues to be told, the reader sees that she is ultimately filled with strength.
The beginning of The Book Thief introduces the main character, Liesel, through a series of colors: white, black, and red. This effectively presents the important idea that Liesel is not purely innocent, evil, loving, violent, or strong. Rather, she is a combination of all of these virtues. As stated by the narrator, she is a “multitude of shades and intonations” (Zusak 8). Liesel, similar to the rest of humanity, is filled with moral ambiguity.