Irony?

[Madeleine Stewart]

Throughout the story a strange sense of irony appears. Marie-Laure is blind and Werner cannot see the situation he is in as a whole. It is ironic because it becomes obvious that Werner cannot see the darkness he is involved with and the book is called All the Light We Cannot See. On page 194 it says, "This time he catches Frederick on the jaw. Werner forces his mind to keep sending up images of home: the laundry; Frau Elena's overworked pink fingers; dogs in the alleys; steam blowing from stacks- every part of him wants to scream: is this not wrong? But here it is right." (Doerr) He starts to believe and trains his mind that it is fine. He does constantly question it especially after the encounter with the prisoner. The ironic part is that the light he cannot or does not want to see is truly the darkness. Is Werner being blind or ignorant?

[Annie Potter]

Personally, I think it is a little bit of both. Werner is ignorant to certain facts such as how the french and other people effected by the war feel. Because he is on the other side of the war, he causes a lot of destruction whether he meant to or not. However, I also believe that sense Werner was exposed to a big part of the war, then he experienced all the horrors that came with it. Therefore, the only way to protect himself is to blind himself to parts of the war. After Werner witnesses the mother and child die in the closet, he later hears from the radio that "all light mathematically is invisible." So is this supporting the idea that Werner is blinding himself to the brutal truth about the war after he had witnessed such a horrific act. Do you believe that Werner is trying to ignore parts of the war in order to get through it? "Werner climbs into the Opel, feeling as if the buildings are rearing around him, growing taller and warping. He sits with his forehead against the listening decks and is sick between his shoes. 'So really children, mathematically, all of light is invisible'" (Doerr 369).