In All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr proves that obstacles in life can make the characters question their beliefs and question what they think is right. Sometimes the characters have to make fast, swift decisions in order to stay alive. These choices reflect on what kind of person the character is.
It shows us their perseverance and maturity throughout the book. They go through intense, life changing events due to the war. They lose friends, family and their most prized possessions. The characters judgement is tested when each and every one of them is called upon to make an important decision. These experiences revealed who is willing to stand up for what they believe in. In All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr proved that even if people have different backgrounds or beliefs they can be brought together do to their shared love and humanity. Marie Laura is diagnosed with a huge problem in her childhood, cataracts.
Shortly after she was diagnosed she became blind. He father buys her braille books to read in her spare time. In addition to this, Marie Laura’s father builds here a tiny model of the city so that marie laura can practice navigating. Then he lights a cigarette and goes to work on his miniatures at a workbench in the corner of the kitchen. He is building a scale model of the entire city. She rubs her fingers along the small wooden buildings so that when she is outside, she knows where she is and where she has to go if their is an emergency. Her father works at a museum and tells marie laua about a cursed stone called the sea of flames. Her father was given a job to carry a replica of the sea of flames in order to protect the real one. Due to German activity in their city, Maurie Laura is forced by her father to leave their house and search for a safer place to stay. Her father’s confidence gives marie laura hope and courage. She accepts the difficult journey because she knows that its in her father’s best interest to protect her. Similar to Maurie Laure, Werner had to move as well. Werner enjoyed math and science. He showed his love for these subjects through radios. Werner eventually finds an old radio and begins to fix it. He is able to make the radio a working piece of machinery and he and his sister Jutta beggin listing to science broadcast. The radio also tells them information about the war. One night werner decided to destroy the radio so Jutta did not hear the frightening things about the war. … takes the little shortwave radio out of the first aid box… and carries it to the alley behind the house and crushes it with a brick. Even though the radio was one of Werner’s most prized possessions, he destroyed it to protect his sisters from the horrors of war. Because werner was so smart, he was able to make it into a very competitive school, The National Political Institute Of Education.
While he was here werner was tested every day on his strength, athleticism and his mind. Werner was one of the brightest boys and was able to make and put together many things that the other could not, such and engines and different radios. One night at the school the boys were outside with a prisoner who was handcuffed and tied to a pole. The prisoner was caught after he escaped from a work camp. Bastin, a leader at the school, instructed the boys to create a single file line and throw water buckets at the prisoner. Bastin says that This barbarian would tear your thoughts out in a second if we let him. This shows how Bastin is dehumanising the prisoner. He is also trying to get the student to show hate towards the prisoner. One of Werner’s friends was Fredrick, he enjoyed reading and learning about birds. When it was his turn to throw water on the prisoner he refused and dumped his water onto the ground. Throw it, commands Bastin… Frederick pours the water onto the ground, I will not Again he was told to throw water onto the prisoner but he still refused. After this incident, Bastin was very hard on Fredrick. He was so violent toward him that eventually Frederick gets brain damage from all the times he was beaten. This forces Fredrick to leave the school. This reveals that Fredrick understood that what the boys were doing was wrong and just because they are a prisoner it doesn’t give them the right to treat him that way. Frederick knew that he would get punished for what he was doing but he did it anyway.
The end of the book reveals that Werner was listing to Marie’s uncle on his radio. Werner got a job in the army to find people who were transmitting illegal messages on the radios. While he was working, he got trapped underground. He was below Marie Laura. She says he is here, he is right below me. Werner feels bad for the girl and he feels a connection between them. This connection gave him the idea and courage to save her. Marie Laura was hiding in her house because she had the sea of flames. When werner walks into the house, he shoots the man who was looking for the stone. Werner falls in love with Marie Laura even though they come from two completely different backgrounds. They would be punished or killed if somebody found out but they continue to be together because of their love. Marie and Werner represent hope, love, courage and bravery throughout the whole book. They always stand up for what they believe in and fight for what is right. In all the light we cannot see, Anthony Doerr repeatedly shows that it doesn’t matter where you come from or what you believe in, what matters is that you be honest with yourself and that if you stand up for everyone and show persistence, anything is possible.
