All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Bibliographic Data

Doerr, Anthony. All the Light We Cannot See. New York: Scribner, 2014. Print.

Summary

All the Light We Cannot See is the story of two teenagers who live during World War II.  Marie-Laure LeBlanc, blind since age six, is the daughter of a lock maker who lovingly raises her to be independent in spite of her handicap.  Werner Pfenning is an orphan with a sister who leaves home to become a Hitler Youth.  Both young people are gifted in their own ways, Marie-Laure with her ability to memorize and Werner with his mathematics.  Against the backdrop of war privations, the French Resistance, a stupendously valuable diamond and a brave relative, both young lives begin to converge.

Analysis

As a novel encompassing both the adult theme of war’s destructive nature and the young adult experiences with life overshadowed by that destruction, All the Light We Cannot See deserves the Alex Award it received in 2015.

There is much in the novel to learn and feel.  Museum collections, radios, ocean life, and trigonometry are some of the topics which Doerr has his two main characters experience without boring the reader with too much exposition.  Marie-Laure’s blindness is her physical limitation, but her fingers, ears, and mind see what her eyes cannot.  Werner is dazzled by the idea of serving as a Hitler Youth and finds recognition in creating a triangulation method for finding the enemy.  Marie-Laure becomes strong in her father’s absence and Werner becomes progressively aware of the inhumanity of training for war. 

The novel is well-written.  The plot is about the convergence of two young lives during war.  Told in alternating flashbacks between 1940 and 1944, written in present tense to give immediacy to the reader, the story is replete with fresh and imaginative figurative language that begs to be reread and savored.  The setting provides the details which both prompt the two young people to act and cause them to react.  Adult readers may see the characters more as examples of people who lived during wartime, but young adult readers will live the time with Marie-Laure and Werner because of Doerr’s ability to detail their lives with suspense by alternating chapters between the two characters.  Even though war is present in American society today, and even though war involves death and destruction, the novel is appropriate for older teens.

One strength is its beautifully written prose which keeps the reader waiting for the next description.  For example, “At least, out on the beaches, her privation and fear are rinsed away by wind and color and light” (243).  Because the character of Marie-Laure is so well drawn with physical detail and inner thoughts, Werner’s character seems to suffer somewhat in comparison.  His character is drawn more with struggle and technicalities than introspection, making him less sympathetic.

In essence, All the Light We Cannot See is a novel to be highly recommended as a war story for both teens and adults and as an inspiration about overcoming adversity.

Activity

Since this book includes so many fascinating subjects, one activity would be to showcase both Marie-Laure’s and Werner’s strengths by hosting a program in which the teens could begin by being blindfolded and asked to identify objects by smell, hearing, touch, and taste.  Then the teens could learn how to build a crystal radio, with materials and instructions provided.

Related Resources

1. 83rd Infantry Division: Liberation of Western Europe (DVD)

Seeing actual pictures or photographs of geographic places in the novel provides the reader visual context for the locations mentioned in the text.

83rd Infantry Division: Liberation of Western Europe. Dir. Tyler Alberts. Combat Reels Inc., 2005. Film.

2. “Inspirational Story of Max Lamm, Blind Teen Who Dominates at Wrestling” (YouTube Video and Article)

This video will increase the reader’s appreciation of what it means to accomplish something in spite of a handicap.  Marie-Laure’s blindness did not stop her work with the French Resistance.

"Inspirational Story of Max Lamm, Blind Teen Who Dominates at Wrestling." ABC7 Chicago. 28 Sept. 2014. Web. 15 June 2015. < http://abc7chicago.com/sports/inspirational-video-of-a-blind-teenage-wrestler/322651/>.

Published Review

Murray, Judy. Rev. of All the Lights We Cannot See. Anthony Doerr. Library Journal 139.13 (2014):46. Web 14 Jun. 2015.