The majority of the action in All the Light We Cannot See takes place during World War II, from the early 1930s to 1945. The reader sees the war from the perspectives of two young people: the French girl Marie and the German boy Werner.
The war has an overwhelming influence on every character. Though not sympathetic to the Nazi ideology, Werner is forced to employ his talents for their cause, not rebelling until he saves Marie during the climax. Marie's father is forced to go into hiding and then eventually leave his daughter due to being in bad graces with the Nazi authorities. Marie's uncle Etienne is traumatized permanently from World War I, unable to leave his home due to shell shock (PTSD).
While the sections dealing with the post-war period are comparatively brief, they are important. Just because the gunfire ended does not mean that the effects of the war did not linger. In the post-war chaos, Jutta is raped by Russian soldiers and left without her brother. Marie is left without her father. The world these characters have known is obliterated.
And yet, these characters go on despite their trauma, much as the world went on after the war ended, trying to rebuild society. Marie and Jutta make lives for themselves, building families and new social bonds. The final scene features an elderly Marie walking with her grandson in the Paris of 2014. Marie thinks about how those who recall the war are dying out, but she knows that the effects of the war remain present even in the modern world.
The novel All The Light We Cannot See is set in the context of World War Two. It is the story of how the lives of Marie-Laure LeBlanc (who is French) and Werner Pfennig (who is German) converge.
The timeline of the story ranges from 1934 to 2014. The book begins with the Allied bombing of France in August 1944. In the first chapters of the book, we are introduced to the protagonists, eighteen-year-old Werner Pfennig and sixteen-year-old Marie-Laure LeBlanc.
The Allied planes are on the way to unleash bombs on Saint-Malo. Marie and Werner are still in Saint-Malo, despite Allied warnings to flee the area. Marie is in her uncle Etienne's house, while Werner is hiding out at a hotel (on his superior's orders).
The story then goes back ten years to 1934, to Marie's and Werner's childhood days. Marie is blind but determined to live life on her own terms. She becomes fascinated by the mysterious Sea of Flames diamond, which is kept at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. Her father, Daniel, works there. The diamond is said to bequeath eternal life to its owner. However, the jewel is cursed: it is rumored to unleash great suffering on the owner's family.
In Germany, Werner's childhood pastime is listening to radio broadcasts with his sister, Jutta. In his teenage years, his predilection for mechanics and technology leads to his enrollment at the German National Institute.
Werner is a star student there, but an unfortunate incident causes him to leave the school in disgrace. Werner is soon signed up to fight for Germany, and he uses his skills to track down enemy broadcasters.
Werner and Marie eventually meet just as Allied planes are bombing St. Malo. Unknowingly, Werner is given a copy of the Sea of Flames diamond for safe-keeping. While Marie lives to a ripe old age, Werner dies after stepping on a German landmine.
The story's war scenes reinforce the horrors of World War Two, but they also constitute an important backdrop against which the stories of forgotten German civilians like Werner are told. The novel shows that not all Germans supported Hitler's hegemonic ambitions and inherently racist policies. Werner and Marie's brief interactions highlight the humanity in both the German soldier and besieged civilian.
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