Themes: All The Light We Cannot See

CONSEQUENCES OF WAR

The consequences of war are best seen in the deterioration of culture and society in the wake of extreme brutality. This evident at the beginning of the text, where Doerr utilises personification when describing “Her Majesty, their Austrians call their cannon” to portray the the bees who now occupy the Hotel as soldiers lavish attention on the ‘Queen Bee’ that is their cannon.. The Hotel of Bees is thus emblematic of how symbols of prosperity and romanticism of the French culture are polluted and fouled by violence born from war. There is a strong ironic inversion of the setting - a Hotel reflective of a life of luxury where its founder lived “eating honey straight from combs,” is now a graphic representation of the violence of World War Two.

The consequences of war are also clear in the impact it has on the loss of daily quotidian life. Doerr explores this notion through his writing style which shifts into an interrogative, desperate series of questions to highlight Marie-Laure’s uncertainty of the future. This is evident as Marie-Laure wonders whether “she would live with her father in Paris…” as she contemplates the loss of all that is familiar to her. While Doerr utilises a third person omniscient narration through his text, Marie-Laure’s internal stream of consciousness is represented in the barrage of questions “Now? What will happen?” Here, the panicked tone provides a focalised depiction of the fear and trauma that results from war, as Marie-Laure’s everyday understanding of reality is dissolving before her eyes.

The consequences of war are also clear within the setting and landscape, as seen within the town of Zollverein. As a “four-thousand-acre coal-mining-complex” outside of Essen, its setting is described as “leafless trees..like skeleton hands shoved up from the underworld.” Here, Doerr’s use of simile implies that the desolation of Zollverein’s environment has created lives of poverty and scarcity for its inhabitants, as Doerr reveals how “men brawl over jobs outside Zollverein’s gates” and “eggs sell for two million reichsmarks a piece.” Thus, Doerr highlights that consequences of World War One have left an indelible mark of destruction upon a social matrix facing “economic collapse.”

FATE/PREDETERMINATION

Knowledge of what one’s fate might be can catalyse attempts to change it. This is seen in Werner’s fear of working in the mines which drives his desire to escape, as desperately he “takes the little shortwave radio...and crushes it with a brick.” Inspired by his encounter with Herr Siedler, Werner believes that allying himself with Nazi ideology may be a way to escape his fate in the mines, as he believes that people with power “decide history.” His fear of the mines thus motivates him to apply for the Entrance Exam for the National Political Institute of Education, where “without hesitating, Werner steps to the edge of the platform and shuts his eyes and jumps,” as “the death of his father” acts as consistent motivator.

Fear of death as a predetermined outcome is also clear in the motivations of Reinhold Von Rumpel, who only has “three months” to live, feels as if “his head might separate from his neck.” Doerr includes the metanarrative of the myth of the Sea of Flames and shows how Von Rumpel’s fear of death leads him to hunt for it, as the “keeper of the stone will live forever.”

IMAGINATION/STORYTELLING/NARRATIVES

Imagination is a powerful force in stirring hope throughout the text. This is exemplified within Henri LeBlanc’s radio broadcast, where Werner learns how “the brain is locked in total darkness” because “all of light invisible.” However, the power of imagination enables characters to construct a world that is “full of light,” which “brims with color and movement.” Hence, Doerr illustrates how landscapes and settings born from characters’ imagination are just as powerful as the physical settings, as they possess the capacity to turn Werner’s mundane and lifeless surroundings of “a steel country” into a world of magic and wonder, where people are able to imagine “flying through forests, through cities, through walls.”

Imagination is also a tool that is capitalised on through propaganda. We see this when Werner envisions his future at the National Political Institute of Education, as “some vision of the school at Schulpforta overmasters him,” and he sees “vermillion flags, muscular horses, gleaming laboratories” in his imagination. Werner sees this imaginary setting of the school as “an emblem of possibility.”

POWER OF TECHNOLOGY - THE RADIO

This is evident as Doerr utilises the symbol of the radio - a medium of official propaganda, which “ties a million ears to a single mouth.” German citizens are indoctrinated with the idea that “courage, confidence and optimism...fill the German people” and that a “flame of a new faith” is rising from “sacrificial readiness.” This myth of German success thus creates the birth of the nation, as individuals are encouraged to sacrifice their lives for patriotism, consequently cultivating individuals as worker drones who enable more military success.

The notion of propaganda is explored through the broadcast of the German play, where “invaders pose as hook nosed department store owners...plot to murder German children.” This thus alienates the Jews from the German society as the authorities ban German citizens from swimming with “half-breed” Jewish people, referring to them as “unsanitary” members of the community. Doerr thus highlights the way in which propaganda, as spread through these plays purposefully associate the Jews with the negative connotations of evil and immorality, thus establishing nationalism by uniting the German citizens against the Jews.

The radio is also repeatedly personified by Doerr as “its subjects lean towards its branches as if towards the lips of Gods,” as they are “desperate for someone who can put things right.” Here, Doerr highlights the prevailing belief that Hitler had the capacity to change the country’s financial circumstances. Hence, as the “staccato voice of the Reich grows,” Doerr highlights how indoctrination of German citizens grows through the use of propaganda.