Chapter Summary Of 'Everything Is Illumination'

Everything is Illuminated In the book Everything Is Illuminated is about a young Jewish-American writer who attempt to research his grandfather's life in Ukraine. Jonathan is attempting to find his grandfather's shtetl, Trachimbrod. He only has a map and a photograph of a woman named Augustine, who is said to have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Jonathan's guide on his trip is Alex, a young Ukrainian man. They are both twenty-one. Their driver is Alex's grandfather, who claims to be blind. Grandfather’s seeing-eye dog comes with them, the dog is called,Sammy Davis,Junior,Junior.The book is based on three basic narratives: chapters written by Jonathan, Alex, and Jonathan. Chapters written by Jonathan describe different events in his family's history in Trachimbrod. Chapters written by Alex describe Jonathan's present trip. Letters from Alex to Jonathan reveal the two characters' growing relationship as writers and friends. The characters have all grown, and discovered things about themselves throughout the book as Alex is also known as Shapka and Sasha, even though he doesn’t like it. He writes chapters for Jonathan’s books and he sends it to him. Alex has changed dramatically throughout the book, he at one
point yells at Jonathan "I asked you to do one thing, and you made a disaster of it! You were so stupid!"(Foer) as Alex yells at Jonathan this shows that he has a voice and a dark side to himself.
Grandfather isn’t really blind, he is just lonely after his wife's death.
“Everyone knows that by bringing up his dead wife he is more blind”(Foer). As if the loneliness makes him not want to see the pain that he had ,“He can’t seem to find what is being illuminated in his life,Grandfather mainly does nothing but lament his actions” (Foer). He spends all his time after the trip crying and crying and in the end, he kills himself, telling Jonathan in his final letter that his suicide is not because he can not deal with the pain but is fulfilled with happiness, he "cannot endure"(Foer), but because he is "complete with happiness"(Foer), and ready to "open the door into darkness" (Foer). Perhaps after death, everything will be illuminated for
Grandfather.
Jonathan isn’t the type of person who makes himself seem higher than others. Like in one of his books Alex describes him by saying, "He did not look like anything special at all"(Foer). When it comes to Alex and Jonathan their relationship when it comes to writing a book is all overwhelming. Jonathan thinks that he is a great writer as he is able to come up with great editing suggestions, but he criticizes Alex . They always argue because Jonathan won't take any of Alex’s suggestions. He wishes to tell Jonathan if he could change things in his book. But of course he doesn’t change anything, and eventually they both stop talking.
In all the characters look for answers in the past and the present. They look at old photos and all the characters seem to want to fix the past. Alex knows that grandfather doesn't really want to find Augustine, and what he really wants can never be accomplished. After the trip grandfather “cries and cries” (Foer), and in the end he kills himself telling Jonathan in his letter that his suicide is not because he "cannot endure" but because he is "complete with happiness" and ready to "open the door into darkness" (Foer).