All The Light We Cannot See Summary

All the Light We Cannot See Analysis During times of war, people were faced with challenges and conflicts where they were forced to make difficult decisions. Everyone had their own reasoning behind the decisions they made; whether they were wrong or right was determined by them. At an early age people learn through childhood experiences how the world works. This shaped who people became and governed their future actions. All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, proved that individuals’ decisions were influenced by the ethics and beliefs they formed in their childhood.
In All the Light We Cannot See, the two main characters of the story were the audacious Marie- Laure LeBlanc, a blind girl who lived in Paris with her loving father, and
the inquisitive Werner Pfennig, an orphan who lived in Zollverein, Germany with his intransigent younger sister Jutta. At the start of the war, Marie- Laure’s father, who was a locksmith at Museum of Natural History, was entrusted with the task of delivering the priceless “Sea of Flames” to a man in Evreux. Upon arrival, Marie- Laure and her father discovered that the man fled to London, so instead they began to live in Saint-Malo with Marie- Laure’s paranoid great-uncle, Etienne. Then, Marie- Laure’s father hid the Sea of Flames inside the miniature version of Etienne’s house, which was part of a miniature wooden replica of Saint- Malo to help her navigate the city. Marie- Laure’s father was soon arrested and never seen again while Madame Manec, the housekeeper, organized a French resistance group and once she died Marie-Laure and Etienne continued her efforts using his radio. After the bombing of Saint- Malo, Marie- Laure hid in the attic from Sergeant Reinhold Von Rumpel, who desired the Sea of Flames for immortality, and broadcasted from the radio, which later caught Werner’s attention and caused him to reminisce his childhood in which he was full of hope and inquiry about the world .
At the orphanage, Werner and Jutta spent most of their time listening to a French professor’s science broadcasts, from which they learned about the world. Although Werner wished to be a great scientist, he was told he would be sent to work in a coal mine. However, he was able to avoid the coal mine after he received a spot at the National Political Institution of Education at Schulpforta for impressing a Nazi official by fixing his radio. Werner’s perspicacious mind was recognized by his professor, Dr. Hauptmann, who in turn lied about Werner’s age, so Werner could be used in the military. Werner then joined a team responsible for destroying Etienne’s anti- German radio broadcasts in Saint-Malo, in which he was miserable and helpless. During the bombing, Werner heard Marie-Laure’s broadcasts, gained hope, and came to rescue Marie-Laure by killing Von Rumpel, but in the midst of this, he happened to fall in love with Marie-Laure and before parting ways, Marie-Laure put the Sea of Flames back in the ocean (since she believed it was the correct thing to do) and gave Werner the key to the ocean grotto gate. Not long after, Werner fell ill and was taken as a German prisoner of war and died after he wandered into a minefield and set off an explosion.
As a child, Marie-Laure had different morals than others her age.
This was shown when Marie-Laure first learned about the Sea of Flames on a museum tour when she was only six years old. After the tour guide finished his story, everyone’s first thought was the value of the precious diamond, which was said to be equivalent to five Eiffel Towers. Humans strive for wealth because the idea that wealth leads to happiness is taught to us at a young age. While the rest of the children’s first thoughts were to greedily keep the diamond, Marie-Laure’s first thought was to simply return the diamond to the sea to end the curse, “Why not’, she asks, ‘just take the diamond and throw it into the sea?’... ‘When is the last time’, one of the older boys says, ‘you saw someone throw five eiffel towers into the sea?’ There is laughter. Marie- Laure frowns” (pg 23). Most of the children’s heads were already filled with corruption and greed, which is common to mankind, but Marie- Laure’s mind hadn’t been exposed yet. Marie-Laure knew the difference between right and wrong and good and bad, which is why she understood that keeping the Sea of Flames was selfish. This showed her strength of character because as Dr. Geffard said, only the strongest could turn away from something so beautiful and valuable. This event foreshadowed the end of the book where Marie- Laure’s childhood beliefs led her to returning the diamond back where it
belonged.
Another character whose childhood learning influenced their decisions was Werner’s sister, Jutta. While Werner was more interested in the professor's science teachings on the radio, Jutta took interest in foreign broadcasts about the war. Jutta was able to recognize Nazi propaganda and understood that the Germans actions were not ethically correct at very early age and while Werner may have believed this to be true, he never admitted it. Jutta said to Werner, “All you want to do are mathematical problems. Play with radios. Don’t you understand what’s happening? (pg 73).” Jutta had strong disagreements with Nazi beliefs as a child, which is why she persisted in telling Werner to decline his offer at Schulpforta. She didn’t want her brother to become a mindless Nazi who committed horrible acts against innocent people. Jutta knew what Werner’s intellectual curiosity, which she admired immensely, would be erased at Schulpforta.
At Schulpforta, Werner’s only friend was Frederick, who was a gentle boy fascinated by birds. Frederick was always called out for being weak, but when he refused to take part in the execution of a prisoner, Frederick was beaten so severely that the result was permanent brain damage. The cause of his decision relates to his childhood love for birds. Frederick did not want to harm the prisoner because he compared the prisoner to an innocent bird, which he could never have imagined harming. Furthermore, Frederick realized he wasn’t in control of his own life; his parents and the school, who forced him to do things he didn’t want to, were. This is shown in a conversation Frederick had with Werner, “I want to be an engineer. And you want to study birds...Why else do any of this if not to become who we want to be?’... ‘Your problem, Werner, says Frederick, is that you still believe you own your life” (pg 223). Frederick spent so much time admiring birds because the birds symbolized freedom, which he so desperately wanted. So, by refusing to follow orders, Frederick showed that he was free and could control his life.
Another instance where childhood beliefs influenced a character’s decision was with Werner.
The cause leading to Werner’s motivation to escape from the Hotel of Bee’s cellar was Marie-Laure’s broadcasts but also the reminiscence of his childhood beliefs. In Werner’s early years, his unique, inquisitive mind was praised by others, which caused him to dream big and believe he could accomplish many things, but once he attended Schulpforta, he was forced to conform to the views of society and blindly follow orders without asking questions. During the time Werner was trapped in the cellar, initially he thought to himself, “Only numbers. Pure math. You have to accustom yourself to thinking that way” (pg 388). Schulpforta caused his once hopeful spirit to be crushed and he remained helpless, which continued until he heard Marie-Laure’s broadcasts. Marie-Laure’s broadcasts caused Werner to recalled the old French broadcasts he and Jutta used to listen to, for example the professor said, “Open your eyes, concluded the man, and see what you can do with them before they close forever…” (pg 49). The broadcasts and memories of his childhood full of wonder and aspiration caused Werner to regain the hope he lost. Werner was tired of feeling guilty and ashamed for helplessly doing the wrong things and being unable to control his life, which have him hope that he could do more with his life as he believed in his childhood. As a result, when he heard Marie-Laure was in trouble he gained the
courage to live his own life and make his own decisions for once in his life, just as Frederick did.
When children were born, their brains were new to the world. As they gathered information from their experiences and actions of others, they formed a system of beliefs and ethics. Children could differentiate between good and evil and right and wrong much easier than adults. These ethics influenced their actions throughout their life and shaped the way people came to be. Even though each person’s childhood ethics, beliefs, and moral codes were different, everyone referred to them before making a decision. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr showed that childhood ethics and beliefs impact people’s decisions.