Analysis All The Light We Cannot See

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.

Throughout the book, All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, there were many symbols that were present. One symbol that stood out to me the most in the book was the radio. This symbol stood out the most because of how the characters manipulated it throughout the story.

First off, child soldiers are often forced to be recruited. “Often they are abducted at school, on the streets or at home.” ("From Cradle to War." Amnesty International. Amnesty International USA, Web. 3 May 2016.) Almost all child soldiers are forced to do things as a soldier that they wouldn’t actually do, such as hurt or kill others. So although some child soldiers want to hurt or kill, most don’t want to. So obviously, most child soldiers are forced to do bad things that they don’t want to do, and wouldn’t do if they hadn’t become a soldier.

There is a myriad of options for schools to choose from when assembling selections for the required reading curriculum. Considerations include writing style, interest level and difficulty of the work in question. Finding literary works that appeal to most students can be an arduous task. One book that should definitely be considered for the 11th grade curriculum is All the Light We Cannot See, a historical fiction novel of 530 pages by Anthony Doerr. This novel can be considered a challenging read, but the educational value it possesses outweighs the fact that it is a strenuous read.

Child Soldiers involves the unlawful recruitment of children under the age of 18, often through force, fraud or coercion. The use of child soldiers takes on three main forms: Direct involvement in armed conflict, whereby the child may be expected to partake in the fighting whilst being armed with a weapon, Indirect involvement through support roles, such as being a messenger, scout, cook, clearing landmines or even as sexual slaves and finally the use for particular political advantage, such as propaganda or as a human shield.

While there were some problems during the World Wars, today there is no significant problem with child soldiers in powerful countries, such as the USA, Britain, and other UN countries. Sadly, there are countries that do use children, including Somalia, Iraq, Mali, and others in Africa and around the Middle East. The logic behind why children are chosen for soldiers is sad and disturbing. Children are recruited because they can be persuaded to fight for things

Child Soldiers across the world are being forced to fight against their will in order to survive. In recent years, “The number of children affiliated with fighting has more than doubled.” (Geert Cappelave) Not only are these kids sent to war, they are abused, sexually and mentally.

These young soldiers seem to not be committed into committing war crimes, but one of their commitments is without a doubt, survival. However, in order for them to accomplish this, they unfortunately have to commit these terrible atrocities to not get killed. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of these children have little to no option whether or not they want to be serving, they are forcibly recruited. Jeffrey Gettle, author of article entitled Armed and Underage argues this idea well with his quote, “purchased, kidnapped, or terrorized” are some of the ways these girls and boys become child soldiers (2009). This quote demonstrates the types of way they are involuntarily placed in the army and when they are in the field, many types abusement become present like when they oppose given orders.

* Child soldiers > * Some facts > * Why children join > * Voices of young soldiers > * Developments > * International Standards > * DDR > * Committee on the Rights of the Child > * Government armed forces > * Armed groups > * Frequently asked questions >

There are hundreds of thousands of children who are currently accommodating in combat for a rebel group or government (“Facts About Child Soldiers”). For example, during the civil war of Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2001, the use of children as soldiers became more rampant ("Child soldiers in Sierra Leone"). The rebel group Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone coerced children to join them in combat by intimidating and abducting them. They would also rape

Child soldiers is an ongoing issue worldwide. I was completely aware of this injustice however, I was not cognizant of the extent of this matter or where it was taking place. Before listening to Nicholas’s presentation I was mindful of the detrimental impacts war has on families, land, workers, and children. Some of these impacts may include the destruction of homes, loss of child or PTSD, depression and other mental illnesses that affect the way children think. In spite of this, I did not have a thorough knowledge of the severity of this situation.

From witnessing murders of their own family, to being kidnapped. It wasn’t the children’s choice to be a soldier (most of the time). If you have ever seen the movie, Mulan. You might remember when Mulan’s father was drafted into the army. He had no decision of choosing to serve or not to serve. Even though he could barely walk. That’s the reverse for a child soldiers, they didn’t get to live a long life. In fact, they haven’t had a childhood besides killing people. The children’s families are sometimes dead or participating in these violent acts. Imagine having your family killed and the rest taken away. It would be

Firstly, it is the opinion of most persons that children who are used as child soldiers are not conscientiously answerable for their behaviour. Most times these children have no contribution on if they become a child soldier or not and once they do become a soldier they are eventually easily influenced through the constant use of drugs and alcohol. The use of these narcotics make the children become submissive thereby allowing them to commit atrocities which they would not have done before. Additionally, research would show that the majority of children who become soldiers do so without

The actions of the child soldiers usually are not decided by the child, but rather by a general or commander. When the child is told to do something they succumb and act on the plan because they are still children. As an adult, though, soldiers have the state of mind to evaluate the situation, and decide what would be best for their country; and them. Child soldiers are raised in an environment of severe violence, experience it, and subsequently often commit cruelties and atrocities of the worst kind. This repeated exposure to chronic and traumatic stress during development leaves the children with mental and related physical ill-health, notably PTSD and severe personality changes. Such exposure also deprives the child from a normal and healthy development into society as a fully functioning member. Pertinent Laws of War anonymously state that the enlistment, recruitment, use, and/or deployment of child soldiers under the age of 15 are actions that are war crimes according to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. These two guiding, international instruments have even been advanced by the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which states a ‘straight 18’ approach to recruitment in the 2002 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The 1990 African Charter on the Rights

Children recruited into the armed forces in these countries are forced by their commanders to commit atrocities against other soldiers and villagers. They may also suffer through punishments themselves. Commanders have been known to force their child recruits to witness and/or commit abuses against their own families or captured prisoners (“Coercion and Intimidation of Child Soldiers to Participate in Violence” 1). For instance, child soldiers recruited into Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army have been forced to tie their parents to trees and club them to death or be killed themselves (Taylor 1). Physical