Anthony Doerr Epigraph

This quote is significant to the novel, All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr because it not only shows off a major event that goes on throughout the book, but also it contains a reference to something that is only caught on the second read. The epigraph tells readers of a coastal city, “the brightest jewel,” and “fire,” which come together significantly to create the Sea of Flames. It is a jewel, an ocean-blue sapphire with a burning red core and an infamous backstory. The Sea of Flames goes missing during the book, but the book tells us of its whereabouts before we even knew of its existence and disappearance. The epigraph has two levels that relate to the book, one literal and one metaphoric.
The epigraph states that Saint-Malo burns, and it does. Readers find out exactly how within the second page, entitled, “Bombers” (4). It portrays the Americans who are destroying the French city in an effort to break the
The Sea of Flames burned Saint-Malo because the stone has a history. It has a reputation. The prophecy that followed the stone said that, “ the keeper of the stone would live forever, but so long as he kept it, misfortunes would fall on all those he loved” (21). Unbeknownst to her until recently, Marie-Laure has the Sea of Flames in her possession while she stayed in Saint-Malo. The stone could have brought about the end of Saint-Malo, a city Marie-Laure loved. Marie-Laure’s father left her the stone to protect her as he went away because he knew of the lore. She questions why, though fires are all over Saint-Malo, “why hasn’t the house been hit? Why hasn’t it caught fire?” (376). As she is the current owner of the Sea of Flames, according to the tale, she will live forever, protecting the house. Those around her will die, though, bringing the storm of bombs into her city, onto her people. The brightest jewels were battling and fire wins over the ocean, fulfilling the stone’s