All The Light We Cannot See By Anthony Doerr

Symbols in literary works can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Symbols can appear in a novel as an event, action, or object. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Neale Hurston, uses the symbols of the gate to show Janie’s transitions to womanhood, independence from oppression, and realization of what love is to Janie.

On the front cover of every novel, there is a title that pertains to the book’s story. Even though some titles are more meaningful than others, understanding the reasoning behind the naming of a book is vital to fully comprehending major concepts and ideas within the book’s pages. Anthony Doerr’s novel, All the Light We Cannot See, is no exception. The book’s title is vital to the major theme within the book’s plot, and, without understanding the title, the books loses much of his meaning. The title, All the Light We Cannot See, portrays the theme of the internal integrity within the novel’s the characters that inevitably was drowned out by the horrors of war.

Moreover, All the Light We Cannot See began betwixt the notorious Nazi Party’s reign in Europe. Going back and forth between time periods, settings, and characters, the book, in the end, composes a mellifluous symphony of parallels that all eventually connect. Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a legally blind girl who continually viewed the glass as half-full, was accompanied by her father, Daniel LeBlanc, throughout the preceding portion of her pilgrimage to refuge during WWII. By fleeing unavoidable harm and siege in Paris, Marie-Laure and her father walked, by foot, to the island city of Saint Malo, France. The pair brought along a sacred, irreplaceable stone: the Sea of Flames from the Museum of Natural History in Paris, where Marie-Laure’s father previously worked. Finally reaching

Once Werner and his crew had arrived in Saint Malo, he intercepted one of Etienne’s broadcasts of coordinates and announcements. Immediately, he recognized “the tenor of the voice matching in every respect the broadcasts of the Frenchmen” which brought memories of his childhood with Jutta. At the end of the broadcast, Werner heard Clair de Lune, a song by Debussy, and was entranced like he was again a little boy discovering the mechanisms of radios for the first time. He made the decision to not turn these broadcasters in, thus sparing the Frenchman named Etienne and Marie-Laure who was the niece of the Frenchman. After killing many innocent people, Werner spared many lives by this action, and in a sense, this worked to rectify his wrongdoings. While trapped under the Hotel of Bees, Werner had only a broken radio and the remaining members of his crew, took time to reflect upon his actions since his departure from home. He was haunted by many of his actions and felt he did not deserve redemption. Even in recognizing the wrongs he had committed, Werner was able to redeem himself; he acknowledged what the war had done to him and his deplorable actions. Werner fixed the broken radio and was able to intercept the transmissions of Marie-Laure reading from Twenty Thousands Leagues Under the Sea while Rupert von Rumpel, a dangerous German private, was rummaging throughout her house. While listening one night, he heard her say that “[von Rumpel] is here. He is right below [her] (393)”; after hearing Marie-Laure, Werner makes the decision to save her. After Werner rescued Marie-Laure, the two go their separated ways and Werner is captured. Even though Werner did not experience a physical reward, his actions of saving both Etienne and Marie-Laure worked to rectify the wrongs he has

“Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.” - Eric Burdon. The theme of good versus evil can be applied to almost every novel but in different aspects. In the novel, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, plays a good and evil side at the same time. This book is in the time period of WWII in Paris, France following a blind girl and an intellectual boy. The girl, Marie-Laure, is our good side of the story, for instance, always wanting to help her father with what she can, listening and knowing what the right thing to do is, and taking action when needed, adding to her blindness to not let that stop her. The German boy we follow, Werner, he is wanting to help others as well, but not for the right reasons, he lets the evil, in this case, the Nazis, take control of him and use him for his brain.

In All the Light We Cannot See, we encounter the “Sea of Flames”. As I was reading the beginning of the book, I passed a quote by Marie-Laure saying, “I heard the diamond is like a piece of light from the original world. Before it fell. A piece of light rained to earth from God.” (Doerr, 300) When I read this sentence I wondered what if this stone and God have a connection. In the book, the characters bring up God a few times, which lets the readers know the characters believe in a God. In the title, All the light We Cannot See, God is like the light and we cannot see him. The diamond had two other replicas but only one was real. Likewise, God has many gods that try to be a replica, but only one God is real. Furthermore, in the end, depending on how strong one’s faith is, the person decides if God is real or not.

The radio that is presented from the book “All the Light We Cannot See” is a metaphor for the hope and the many untold stories in World War II. The characters Marie-Laure and Werner were trapped in a seemingly hopeless situation during the German occupation in Normandy during World War II. The radio that was found, and restored, by Werner gave them a sense of hope when they would listen to stories and lessons from voices around the world. Although the children could not do anything about the war that was raging outside and their possible inevitable fate, the radio gave them a brief mental break from their troubles. The radio is important in the story because the radio admits soundwaves that we cannot see in the same way we cannot see light.

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, should be made a required reading book for multiple reasons. Often times required reads focus on the old classics such as Twain, Shakespeare, and Dickens, while these books are chosen for good reason- they are timeless works of art- students often overlook great books written today. When every book you are required to read, either good or bad, is at least one hundred years old, students often forget that new great books are being written every year. In All the Light We Cannot See, while the setting takes place over 70 years ago during World War II Doerr finished the novel in 2014. The novel intertwines two very different point of views before, during, and after the second world war: one a blind

The book I am reading is "All The Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr, and I must say,I truly do like this book as of now. I am impressed by how descripive the author is in this book, providing enough detail to create a clear image in my mind while reading. Introduction of characters was really smooth, and the engaging side stories in the book provide interesting information that you probably wouldn't find elsewhere.

The repeating image of the radios symbolizes the general population's fearlessness in a miserable circumstance by connecting Marie-Laure and Werner together, Werner being a German fighter, Marie-Laure being a French resident. For a large portion of the novel, the radio fills in as the connection between our two heroes, Marie-Laure and Werner. Since Werner was a kid, technology had intrigued him. He longed for turning into an architect one day, and had an energy for comprehension, building, and fixing technology. In that capacity, a focal piece of his life was the radio.

The novel All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, illustrates the story of a young Parisian girl named Marie-Laure and a distinctive German boy named Werner. The book takes place in a war torn Europe during the Second World War, and follows the two characters as the war alters their lives. Marie-Laure LeBlanc lives in Paris with her father, an intelligent, caring man who works as a locksmith for the Museum of Natural History. At age 6, with the threat of war looming in the distance, she suddenly goes blind. This sudden twist causes Marie-Laure’s father to create an intricately designed model of their neighborhood, complete with streets, building, storm drains and even benches on the sidewalk for her to memorize. When battle breaks loose across Europe, the curators of the museum are forced to evacuate all of the precious items. Marie-Laure and her father flee on foot to the seaside town of Saint-Malo where her Uncle Etienne lives to escape the German invaders. With them, they unknowingly carry the Sea of Flames, a diamond said to have powers to bestow immortality on anyone who carries it.

Sight is a motif present from the cover page to the end. Sight is arguably the most important idea in the novel ‘All the Light We Cannot See’. In the book ‘All the Light We Cannot See’, author Anthony Doerr uses the idea of “sight” to better describe what the main characters, Marie-Laure and Werner see and do not see. Eventually he crafts this in a way to bring the two stories together.

This is an essay on All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony der. Each character in the story is effected by World War II and changed by their experiences. The characters encounter various events that change them while they try to survive world war two. The book starts off in a French city named Saint Malo during a bombardment by American forces trying to flush out Nazi soldiers encamped in the city. While this is happening, a French girl named Marie-Laur takes a huge diamond out of a model house, and a German boy named Werner rushes to a cellar under a hotel listening to Austrian solders sing as they fire a load and massive anti air gun from the roof of the hotel.

This is a carefully constructed book which is bound to captivate a large audience and become very popular, and be blessed with many warm reviews - it was chosen by Goodreads members as the best historical fiction of 2014, and shortlisted for the National Book Award. There are multiple reasons for its success - but they are also the same reasons as to why I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.

In the novel, All The Light We Cannot See written by Anthony Doerr there are many characters developed throughout the course of the novel who are reflective of society. During the development of the characters, the author reveals his viewpoint on the human condition including but not limited to, growth, emotionality, aspiration, conflict, and mortality. One of the characters the author expresses his thoughts and ideas through is Werner Pfennig. Doerr reveals the lack of choice in our lives, the difficulty of making those choices, and the repercussions our choices can have.