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  • Essay / All the Light We Cannot See: The Costs of War

    Anthony Doerr's remarkable novel, “All the Light We Cannot See,” is a piece of literature that moves quickly, efficiently and beauty in precise and immaculate sentences. Each sentence is lyric poetry that the author has carefully structured. The novel is a work of historical fiction that opens with two memoirs of two different children on opposing sides of World War II. This literature addresses the major themes of war, destiny and free will, parental sacrifices, physical blindness versus spiritual blindness, fear, control versus power, the power of knowledge and the possibilities of magic and legends. The most important theme of the novel highlights war. Doerr's fiction uses physical symbols to highlight the effects of war on people, resistance to oppression, and the efforts of citizens trying to maintain normalcy, thereby allowing readers to better understand the consequences of the war. The author uses three symbols in the novel that are closely related to the main characters, and these symbols will help depict the author's view of the war through a new perspective to bring out the hidden stories of World War II . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay The first symbol the author uses to explain the results of the war is a small model of the city of Saint-Malo built by Marie-Laure. father, Mr. LeBlanc; elucidate the effects of war on cities and the population. At the beginning of the novel, it is described how the model city of Paris and the city of Saint-Malo created by Monsieur Leblanc are precise in the proportions and layout of the buildings. The model of Saint-Malo is described in detail by Marie-Laure “Her fingers pass in front of the shipbuilder's hangar on rue de Chartres, in front of Madame Ruelle's bakery on rue Robert Surcouf. In her imagination, she hears the bakers sliding across the flour-stained floor...baking loaves in the same four-century-old oven that Mr. Ruelle's great-great-grandfather used. His fingers pass the steps of the cathedral – here an old man cuts roses in a garden; here, next to the library, the mad Hubert Bazin murmurs to himself as he scrutinizes an empty wine bottle with his one eye…” (Doerr, 243). Unlike the model, the streets of the real city are full of people going about their daily lives, like the people Marie-Laure includes in her story. During World War II, occupied France was under direct Nazi German control, the streets of Saint-Malo imitated the model streets; The situation becomes increasingly desolate as citizens try to escape the wrath of the Nazi Germans by staying inside their homes. The civilians of Europe were facing war on their doorstep, with bombings and killings, “…the siege of Saint-Malo, the bombings subsided, as if all the artillerymen suddenly fell asleep in front of their cannons. Trees are burning, cars are burning, houses are burning. German soldiers drink in their blockhouses. A priest in the college basement sprinkles holy water on the walls” (Doerr, 375). Some were put in camps; Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and anyone the Nazis considered a threat to the creation of the master race were sent to concentration camps and millions were killed. The war was not only fought on the front lines against heavy infantry, but also against ordinary people on thehome front. France plunged into a dark era, occupied by the Nazi Germans, with terrible consequences of bombings, executions, deportations, murders and famine. Little by little, the resistance takes shape and begins to react. The author uses two different objects, a cabinet and a radio, and connects them both to create a symbol of resistance to oppression. After the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, radio stations were banned throughout the country, but some maintained illegal radio stations showing their resistance to oppression. Keeping these illegal radios would allow them to communicate with the allies in the hope of defeating the Nazis: “When Marie-Laure passes the front door with the bread, when he opens the little roll between his fingers, lowering his mouth towards the microphone, he feels unshakable; he feels alive. 56778. 21. 4567. 1094. 467813. Then the time and frequency of the next broadcast. They have been working on it for several months, new pieces of paper arriving in a loaf of bread every few days…” (Doerr, 331-332). Etienne, a resistance fighter, creates an effort to contribute to the war effort to regain their freedom; provide information to the Allied forces during the Normandy landings. The cupboard on the 6th floor of Etienne's house would become a door to secrets, apart from the cupboard, it is an average storage space without anything suspicious or extraordinary, however behind this piece of furniture hides the secret: an illegal radio station. This wardrobe focuses on how people stay strong and resist in times of oppression and how even the most unlikely people can make a big difference in difficult times. Radio plays a big role in Werner and Marie-Laure's lives, as it is how they meet, symbolizing the connection of people from all over the world. The book that Marie-Laure reads throughout the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne is mentioned several times. We see Marie-Laure reading sentences over the years, good times and bad. It is not the book that would be a symbol, but his actions of reading a book become a symbol that even during World War II, citizens made an effort to try to live a regular life every day. Marie-Laure reads as if she lived a normal life with her father. After Werner introduces himself to Marie-Laure, he comments on how brave she was, she then responds “…I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But that's not courage, I have no choice. I wake up and live my life” (Doerr, 469), and she ends up with her uncle, and later when her uncle is taken away and she is left alone in the house to fend for herself. In the most difficult times, she reads the book on her great-uncle's radio to comfort herself from all these experiences in the trials of war, she reads to comfort herself and not think about the terror that surrounds her. During World War II, people on the home front continue to lead normal lives, cooped up in their homes as friends, families, and everyone around them disappear and their way of life changes. sample.Get a custom paper from our expert writers now.Get a custom essay As far as World War II novels go, “All the Light You Can See” follows the desolation and barbarity of war, but the language seems surprisingly fresh. After Werner and Marie-Laure, two young people are forced to make almost impossible choices, one fighting for the Nazis, the other for the French Resistance during the Second World War..