All the Light We Cannot See

Warning: Spoilers!

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, is a fictional book set in France and Germany during World War 2. The chapters of the novel jump back and forth in time, creating a jumbled narrative that is sometimes difficult to follow. The perspective switches among a number of major and minor characters, but the book primarily focuses on Werner and Marie-Laure, whose stories finally come together at the end of the book. All the Light We Cannot See is a poignant piece about the experiences of these two children who grow into young adults by the end of the war. I would give All the Light We Cannot See a 4 out of 5. I enjoyed reading the majority of the book, despite a few minor flaws, but the conclusion was extremely depressing. Had the book had a more satisfying ending, I would have given it a 4.5. 

One of the main characters, Marie-Laure, is an inquisitive blind girl whose father works as a locksmith for a large museum in Paris. Though she is unable to see anything in the museum, Marie-Laure loves learning about the marine creatures, especially snails. She grows up with her father and she learns to navigate Paris using an intricate wooden model that he has constructed for her. However, due to the Nazi invasion, Marie-Laure and her father are forced to flee to St-Malo, where her Great-Uncle Etienne takes them into his home. Marie-Laure lives there with her father, great-uncle, and Madame Manec (her great-uncle’s housekeeper) in relative peace until Madame Manec dies from pneumonia and her father is captured by the Nazis.

The second main character, Werner, grows up in a German children’s home run by Frau Elena. There, he and his younger sister, Jutta, live with the ever-nearing prospect of work approaching them. Because the children’s home is poor, every boy above 15 is sent to work in the coal mines. Frau Elena believes that Werner, who is brilliant, can achieve more than this, but she is unsure how to help him. One day, Werner finds a broken radio, and, though he has never been taught, is able to repair it. He enjoys listening to scientific broadcasts with Jutta, and gradually word spreads of his abilities with radios. At the time, he is happy to repair neighbors’ radios, but when the Nazis learn of his skill they offer him the chance to attend an elite school and ultimately serve them instead of working in a mine. Although Werner joyfully accepts, this decision ultimately leads to great sorrow for him. 

All the Light We Cannot See illustrates the tragedies of war by following the journey of these two children from impossibly different backgrounds who grow up at the same time and are thrown into opposite sides of World War 2. While each faces unique difficulties, they are eventually driven together by the war. As mentioned above, Werner is forced to choose between working in a coal mine for the rest of his life or helping the Nazis find members of the French resistance who are transmitting illegal radio broadcasts. Unfortunately, one of the covert broadcasters turns out to be Marie-Laure’s great-uncle.  Marie-Laure’s role in the French resistance begins when the museum curator entrusts her father with the Sea of Flames, an enormous diamond said to grant immortality to the possessor, but also misfortune to the possessor’s family and friends. Although at the time, her father is uncertain whether he carries a fake or the real diamond, it is later revealed that he has the actual stone. In order to protect this treasure as well as his daughter, Marie-Laure’s father cleverly conceals the diamond inside the new wooden model of St-Malo he has constructed for her. When he receives a telegram from the museum requesting that he return, he travels alone to Paris. Unfortunately, on the way, he is arrested by German soldiers, who mistake his locksmith tools for those of a spy. 

About this time, Werner enters St-Malo looking to stop the French resistance from broadcasting any information to one another. Meanwhile, Marie-Laure has begun helping her friend, Madame Manec, to fight the Nazis. Each week, she is tasked with the job of visiting the local bakery to obtain a special loaf of bread from Madame Ruelle, who bakes a printed message into the bread. Then, Marie-Laure hurries the bread to her great-uncle, who broadcasts the message to the rest of the resistance. Werner, who is excellent at locating the source of radio signals, does find the signal from which Marie-Laure’s Great-Uncle Etienne is broadcasting. However, he remembers the voice from when he and Jutta listened to Etienne’s scientific broadcasts at the children’s home. Overcome with emotion, Werner purposefully leads the Nazis away from Etienne. 

Finally, near the end of the book, Werner and Marie-Lauer meet for the first time. Despite the fact that Werner is part of the German army that is responsible for the bombings Marie-Laure has endured, the two are able to set aside these differences trying to survive. When the bombings stop, Werner helps Marie-Laure escape by sacrificing himself. Werner is captured and taken to a prison where he later dies trying to escape. I found the final chapters of the book to be extremely depressing, due to the fact that Werner dies, Etienne must finish raising Marie-Laure by himself because her father (who is presumed dead) never returns, and Jutta is raped by a group of Russian soldiers. The novel honestly examines the tragedies of war, as well as the aftermath of those tragedies decades later.

Throughout the book, many of the characters are faced with extreme choices. Some, like Jutta, Marie-Laure, her father, Etienne, and Madame Manec, are able to make the right choice and resist the Nazis. Others, like Werner and many young men at his school are clouded with fear of being targeted and choose instead to serve Hitler. However, at the end of the book, Werner sacrifices himself to save Marie-Laure, showing that he recognizes his previous mistakes and is trying to amend them. Even though during his training he knew what he was doing was wrong, he always pushed his doubts aside. At the end of the novel, Werner allows these doubts to surface and therefore has the courage to save Marie-Laure from a fellow Nazi. By acting in a way that benefits someone else, Werner has finally become at peace with himself. I think the title reflects three types of light within the story: visual light, radio waves, and the light that Werner finally realizes he has inside himself. 

--Miriam A