Book Name

[simonplotkin]

All The Light We Cannot See implies many things about the characters and the mindset of the war. Where do you think the title was applied during the novel and in what way was it used?

[Cole Powers]

I think the title is most directly referenced in the book in relation to radio waves. Werner's curiosity opens him up to an entire world that he could not see, literally and metaphorically. He is amazed at the amount of "light he cannot see". The title more ambiguously speaks about Marie-Laure's blindness. When she looses her sight she finds a world of sound, feeling and smell that she never new existed. She can see so much more of some things than others. In a broader sense, it refers to everything we humans have missed. This is captured very well in the scene in which Marie-Laure watches the pendulum. It will be swinging long after the war is over. This kind of puts our silly war in perspective. We think that the world we see with our blind eyes, blind hearts, blind minds, is all that exists. We fight wars, we kill each other, and it seems like this war matters so much, like the world depends on it. But our wars mean practically nothing. There is so much light that we cannot see.

[Luke W]

I agree 100% with Cole. The radio waves and Marie-Laure's blindness were some of the first things to come to mind. Since both of these things are major points in the story, it makes sense that it would also be the title of the book.

[Holly]

I completely agree with both Luke and Cole. I had the same thought how both characters wonder about "all the light they cannot see", hence the title of the novel. Like Cole was saying, wars mean nothing. Humans fight battles, one side claims victory and it goes down in history. As I was reading I came across this passage, " 'You know the greatest lesson in history? It's that history is whatever the victors say it is. That's the lesson. Whoever wins, that's who decides the history.' " (Anthony Doerr p.g 84) I thought this was interesting because humans create their own history depending on whoever is victorious, thus backing up Cole's point.

[taylor]

The light that book is referring too, is the knowledge. Throughout the book the author created an idea that Marie's blindness was really what opened her eyes. Though she couldn't see, Marie opened her eyes to what was more important. She noticed the little things, the way the street curved and how many steps where up a stair case. Being blind opened a whole new world for her. I agree with Cole, that Werner's curiosity opened up more opportunities for him, and in a different way it did the same for Marie. Marie's blindness gave her the curiosity to explore the natural world, which is why, at the end of the book she had the profession that she did.

The title was also implied in communication during the war. In Jutta's letter's some of her words where blacked out. Her words where never seen by Werner. During those times, Nazi's attempted to take over communication. They blocked out the light from outside, leaving a shadow cast upon those in their path. In this case those around them, may not of had a clear representation of what was happing, having knowledge, or light, being blocked out. The book talked about the ignorance of humans, rather it was brought upon them, or came from their own actions.