Marie-Laure LeBlanc

Marie-Laure is one of the two main characters in All the Light We Cannot See. We trace her story from a childhood in Paris, through the war years in Saint-Malo and back to Paris in her twilight years when she is a grandmother. A pretty girl with freckles and auburn hair, Marie-Laure is not defined by the fact she is blind. She is driven by her curiosity of the natural world and supported by her devoted and loving father, Daniel LeBlanc. Blind from the age of six, this inquisitive and intelligent girl learns how to navigate towns with the help of scale models her father builds. She spends time at the museum with Dr Geffard, the mollusc expert, and enjoys touching and learning about the various shells. Despite the happiness she experiences reading, learning and exploring, her life is turned upside down by the onset of war.

Marie-Laure’s best defence in the time of war is a razor sharp sense of logic. Her reading, knowledge and understanding are what protect and guide her through the traumatic events. Symbolic of this is the way she raises her book to shield herself from a group of boys who taunt her by saying the Germans will take the blind first. A determined and courageous Marie-Laure, who is 16 at the time of the bombings, is not just a passive survivor but takes part in the resistance movement, running errands to relay information that will help others to fight the Germans.

Her place in the novel accentuates the title as her blindness does not restrict her from seeing the world, and the war does not extinguish the light within her. After the war, Marie-Laure works at the museum where her father had previously worked. She has a daughter, Hélène, and a grandson, Michel.

Marie-Laure LeBlanc Quotes

‘They’ll probably take the blind girls before they take the gimps.’ The first boy moans grotesquely. Marie-Laure raises her book as if to shield herself. (The first boy) Part 1, Mark of the Beast

To shut your eyes is to guess nothing of blindness. Part 8, The Transmitter

She crouches over her knees. She is the Whelk. Armoured. Impervious. (Marie-Laure) Part 9, Grotto

She says, ‘When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don’t you do the same?’ (Marie-Laure and Werner) Part 10, Second Can

Somewhere, someone is figuring out how to push back the hood of grief, but Marie-Laure cannot. Not yet. The truth is that she is a disabled girl with no home and no parents. Part 11, Paris

Marie-Laure takes off her eyeglasses, and the world goes shapeless. ‘Why not,’ she asks, ‘just take the diamond and throw it into the sea?’ Part 1, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle

‘Marie-Laure’, he says without hesitation. He squeezes her hand with both of his. ‘You are the best thing that has ever come into my life.’ (Etienne) Part 9, Sea of Flames

Those are months of bruises and wretchedness: rooms pitching like sailboats, half-open doors striking Marie-Laure’s face. Part 1, Key Pound

Daniel LeBlanc

A man of science and logic, Daniel LeBlanc believes that every lock has a key, every problem has a solution. He works as a locksmith for the Museum of Natural History until the German occupation of Paris. Daniel is a devoted and loving father to Marie-Laure, teaching her braille and spending whatever meagre savings he has on books and treats for her birthdays. He spends time meticulously crafting scale models of the surroundings, first in Paris and then in Saint-Malo. He encourages his daughter to take chances and use her imagination. He is patient as she learns how to negotiate the outside world as a blind girl. He encourages her by saying she is ‘émerveillement’, that is, a wonder or marvel.

Sadly, even ironically, it is his devotion to Marie-Laure that leads to his arrest and separates the two. His promise to never leave her is broken when as he paces out measurements in Saint-Malo he is reported by Claude Levitte, the perfumer. His action to protect his daughter has led to her being left exposed. He writes to her from prison, fanciful letters that are designed to place her mind at ease, describing good food and conditions. The reader and even Marie-Laure can imagine that this is probably not true.

Daniel’s relationship with the Sea of Flames diamond is dynamic, the myths of things mysterious and supernatural that surround the diamond challenging his logical, scientific worldview. As the custodian of the diamond when the museum is endangered, according to the myth, Daniel will be safe but those around him will be in danger and suffer. When the war impacts his life more and more, Daniel is challenged to remain rational. Perhaps in some way his gifting of the diamond to Marie-Laure, which keeps her safe while he sacrifices his own safety, is a concession to his belief in something mystical.

Daniel LeBlanc Quotes

Marie-Laure’s father is principal locksmith for the National Museum of Natural History. Part 1, Key Pound

He says he will never leave her, not in a million years. (Daniel to Marie-Laure) Part 1, Key Pound

‘Poor Monsieur LeBlanc.’
‘Hasn’t had an easy road, you know. His father dead in the war, his wife dead in childbirth. And now this?’
‘Like they’re cursed.’ (The LeBlanc’s neighbours) Part 1, Key Pound

And there was a record made by a camp doctor at a subcamp in Kassel, Germany, that a Daniel LeBlanc contracted influenza in the first part of 1943. That’s all they have. Part 12, Laboratory

Etienne LeBlanc

‘Stick thin’ and ‘alabaster pale’ Etienne LeBlanc is a recluse who lives in Saint-Malo. A veteran of the previous war, Etienne has suffered. At times he needs to stay in his room as he suffers agoraphobia, hallucinations and migraines from his war experiences. Etienne’s situation provides a glimpse of the perils of war and a reminder of the fate of many of the characters around him. With his brother Henri, he was a signalman in the war. Before Henri was killed he was a constant source of protection and encouragement for Etienne. The two had recorded science records and Henri would recite the scripts when the two were in perilous situations during the war.

Etienne has a love of radios. He collects them and proudly shows them to Marie-Laure when she arrives in Saint-Malo. For some time he plays recordings on the transmitter in his attic with the hope his deceased brother can hear them. Etienne is incapacitated when the Germans declare all radios banned and loses all but the transmitter in the attic. He uses this transmitter to broadcast coordinates for the French resistance when he joins the fight.

Etienne has a live-in carer, Madame Manec, who has become like family to him. It is her death that spurs him into action. His relationship with Madame Manec highlights how characters’ families are often made up of extras in the absence of significant members. Etienne has Madame Manec as a substitute mother while Werner and Jutta have Frau Elena.

Etienne is captured and taken to a prison but is released after the war. He is inspired by his love of Marie-Laure to go outside when he thinks she is in danger and becomes well enough to live and travel with her. He maintains that she is the best thing that has ever happened to him. They go to Sardinia and Scotland and ride on the upper deck of a London airport bus as it skims below trees. He buys himself two nice transistor radios and dies gently in the bathtub at age eighty-two.

Etienne LeBlanc Quotes

‘I thought that if I made the broadcast powerful enough, my brother would hear me. That I could bring him some peace, protect him as he had always protected me.’ (Etienne) Part 3, The Professor

‘Uncle Etienne? You said he was crazy.’
‘He is partially crazy, yes. He is maybe seventy-six percent crazy.’ (Marie-Laure and Daniel) Part 1, Exodus

Madame says, ‘Shuts himself up like a corpse one day, eats like an albatross the next.’ Part 3, Madame Manec

She and Etienne travelled while he could. They went to Sardinia and Scotland and rode on the upper deck of a London airport bus as it skimmed below trees. He bought himself two nice transistor radios, died gently in the bathtub at age eighty-two, and left her plenty of money. Part 12, Laboratory

Madame Manec

Etienne’s live-in caregiver is a strong and passionate presence in the chateau in Saint-Malo. She stands in as a guardian for Marie-Laure when Daniel is arrested and fails to return. Her kindness and patience is on show as she takes the blind girl to the beach and throughout town. Madame Manec’s touching of Marie-Laure’s face and Marie-Laure’s description of Madame Manec’s hands as ‘the hand of a geologist or a gardener’ positions Madame Manec within the group of nature and science lovers.

When the Germans arrive, Madame Manec cannot sit by and do nothing so she joins the resistance movement. Although she pleads with Etienne to help and he refuses, after her death from pneumonia he is inspired to honour her by broadcasting information for the resistance movement.

Madame Manec Quotes

Madame Manec says, ‘Don’t you want to be alive before you die?’ (to Etienne) Part 5, Alive Before You Die

‘You must never stop believing. That’s the most important thing.’ (Madame Manec to Marie-Laure) Part 5, Heaven

Werner Pfennig

Whilst attending Schulpforta, Werner’s supervisor, Dr Hauptmann, tells Werner that a scientist’s work is determined by two things: his interests and the interests of his time. In many ways, this truth encapsulates the life of Werner Pfennig. An orphan living with his sister Jutta in a children’s home in the mining town of Zollverein, Werner has a love of science and maths, specifically an interest in radios and an ability to repair them. His dream to become a scientist and avoid the inevitable life as a miner is overridden by the events of the time, the rise of the Third Reich.

Werner’s physical attributes are significant. His whitish, blonde hair and striking blue eyes are seen as important in the ideology of the government. His eye-sight, tested by the army recruiters, is exemplary. This is in stark contrast to Marie-Laure’s blindness. However, we see that Werner is blinded by his ambition and the propaganda and teachings that accompany his training. He is willing to ‘not see’ the cruelty that youths perpetrate on his friend Frederick and ‘not see’ the reality of his work. He is willing to believe that what he does is ‘just numbers’ and not about finding and killing people.

Dr Hauptmann tells the government that Werner is 18 so that Werner can be drafted into the military. Werner joins a unit responsible for locating and destroying anti-German radio broadcasts. During the hunt for a radio in Saint-Malo, Werner hears the familiar transmission from his childhood of a professor. His connection with Marie-Laure shortly after the accidental death of a young girl finally removes the scales from his eyes and he sees a new way. He understands what his sister has being saying all along about the false ideology of the Nazi party.

Werner is trapped in a hotel basement during the bombings at Saint-Malo. He hears Marie-Laure’s transmission and sets out to help her. He arrives at the chateau and is confronted by Sergeant Major von Rumpel who is there to find the Sea of Flames diamond. A conflict occurs and Werner shoots von Rumpel and saves Marie-Laure. After leading her to safety, Werner is captured. He falls ill and wanders from the group and dies after stepping on a landmine.

Werner Pfenning Quotes

Never has he felt such a hunger to belong. (Werner at Schulpforta) Part 3, Jungmänner

Atelier de réparation, thinks Werner, a chamber in which to make reparations. As appropriate a place as any. Certainly there would be people in the world who believe these three have reparations to make. Part 4, Atelier de reparation

I have been feeling very clearheaded lately and what I want to write about today is the sea. It contains so many colours. …. It is my favourite thing, I think, that I have ever seen. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it and forget my duties. (Werner’s letter to Jutta) Part 9, Hunting (again)

Frederick said we don’t have choices … but in the end it was Werner who pretended there were no choices. Part 9, Clair de Lune

She says, ‘When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don’t you do the same?’
He says, ‘Not in years. But today. Today maybe I did.’ (Marie-Laure and Werner) Part 10, Second Can

‘Your problem, Werner,’ says Frederick, ‘is that you still believe you own your life.’ Part 5, January Recess

Mostly he misses Jutta: her loyalty, her obstinacy, the way she always seems to recognize what is right. Though in Werner’s weaker moments, he resents those same qualities in his sister. Perhaps she’s the impurity in him, the static in his signal that the bullies can sense. Perhaps she’s the only thing keeping him from surrendering totally. Part 5, Intoxicated

‘It’s only numbers, cadet,’ Hauptmann says, a favourite maxim. ‘Pure math. You have to accustom yourself to thinking that way.’ Part 3, Blackbirds

Jutta Pfennig

The younger sister of Werner, Jutta originally admires her older brother and wants to be around him whenever she can. They play in the mining town where they are grow up with Werner pulling her in a cart. When Werner fixes a radio they spend nights listening to overseas broadcasts including the one from a professor in France. As the war intensifies there is a presence of soldiers in their home town. One identifies Werner as gifted and calls for him at the children’s home. Fearing he is in trouble for owning a radio, Werner later smashes the radio he shares with Jutta. At this time their relationship is strained.

Jutta appears to hold a strong moral compass and an ability to see through the ideology that the Germans have purported. It is her time with the overseas broadcasts that have given her insight. She even writes a letter in an attempt to contact the French broadcaster of the science show.

Jutta writes to Werner throughout the war but their relationship is never the same, the war and the Nazi ideology coming between them. Toward the end of the war, Jutta and the girls from the children’s home are transported to work in a factory. There is little to eat and they wear rags to make themselves unappealing to the Russians moving through the area as they fear revenge. Jutta and the others are set upon and raped. Despite her innocence and dislike of the war and the German ideology, she has not escaped the trauma of war.

It is Werner’s friend, Frank Volkheimer, who returns Werner’s possessions. Jutta already knows Werner is dead but Frank provides the details. Jutta is torn between wanting to move on and the lingering love for her brother. It sparks a search into his last days that takes her to Saint-Malo and eventually to Paris where she meets Marie-Laure. Jutta is married with a child who, like her deceased uncle, seems intelligent and hopeful.

Jutta Pfenning Quotes

‘Is it right,’ Jutta says, ‘to do something only because everyone else is doing it?’ Doubts: slipping in like eels. Werner shoves them back. Part 3, Don’t Tell Lies

Jutta opens her eyes but doesn’t look at him. ‘Don’t tell lies. Lie to yourself, Werner, but don’t lie to me.’ (Jutta) Part 3, Don’t Tell Lies

‘And close your eyes,’ says Frau Elena. Hannah sobs.
Jutta says, ‘I want to see them.’ Part 11, Berlin

Frau Elena

French-born Frau Elena is the matron of the orphanage where Werner and Jutta grow up. She is kind-hearted and caring, looking for ways to provide food and support for the children despite the lack of resources which only diminish as the war progresses. She teaches the children to speak French despite being ostracised for her heritage. This ultimately will help Jutta understand overseas broadcasts, widening her worldview and shielding her from blindly following Nazi ideals. It also helps Werner relate to Marie-Laure, a pivotal relationship for both characters.

Knowing better than to speak directly against the rise of the Third Reich, Frau Elena is cautious and tries to protect the children from the imposing war. A true mother to the end, Frau Elena is with Jutta and the girls at the end when the Russians come. She is disappointed rather than scared, her wisdom having prepared her for this day. She comforts the children as best she can, telling them to ‘stay calm and they won’t shoot. I’ll make sure to go first. After that they’ll be gentler’. Her sacrificial love prevailing as another example of how some strangers will show love as great as a family member could.

Frau Elena Quotes

Werner thinks of home: Frau Elena bent over his little shoes, double-knotting each lace. Part 0, Bombs Away

Frau Elena is a Protestant nun from Alsace who is more fond of children than of supervision. She sings French folk songs in a screechy falsetto, harbors a weakness for sherry, and regularly falls asleep standing up. Part 1, Zollverein

Frank Volkheimer

In some ways Frank Volkheimer is a contradiction. Known as ‘the giant’, he is an older cadet at Schulpforta when Werner arrives. He is obedient to superiors and an imposing figure at the school and endears himself to Dr Hauptmann. A glimpse of Volkheimer’s other side is provided when he is seen relaxing listening to classical music.

Separated at the academy, Frank and Werner are reunited when Werner is called to join a unit that specialises in tracing radio transmissions from Russian and resistance fighters. When Werner joins the unit it is obvious Frank is comfortable with his role. He has become a brutal killing machine. By the end of the war he would have killed over 100 men. Despite this, he continues his relationship with Werner and watches over him like an older brother. This is a prime example of the protective presence within the book and reminiscent of Etienne and his brother in the first war, Daniel LeBlanc and his daughter, and eventually Werner and Marie-Laure.

When Werner hears the broadcast in Saint-Malo and deliberately fails to locate the radio, Frank ignores his treason. This dichotomy of killer with a good heart is typical of blurring the lines between clear-cut good and evil. Hearing Marie-Laure’s broadcast of classical music inspires Frank to try a desperate plan of freeing them from the basement of the hotel. Loyal to the end, when Werner’s possessions are delivered to him, he tracks down Jutta to deliver them to her.

Frank Volkheimer Quotes

Other times the eyes of men who are about to die haunt him, and he kills them all over again. Dead man in Lodz. Dead man in Lublin. Dead man in Radom. Dead man in Cracow. (Volkheimer) Part 12, Volkheimer

Volkheimer who always makes sure there is food for Werner. Who brings him eggs, who shares his broth, whose fondness for Werner remains, it seems, unshakable… Part 7, White City

‘In the end,’ murmurs Volkheimer as the truck heaves away, ‘none of us will avoid it.’ Part 9, The Girl

Frederick

Coming from a wealthy family, Frederick is only at Schulpforta to please his parents. He is friendly and likeable and immediately reaches out to Werner. Another character with a love of nature, Frederick spends time looking at birds and falls behind in the ideology training at the school. Clearly in the wrong place, gentle Frederick is singled out as ‘the weakest’ and bullied by the others. Werner, despite an uncomfortable feeling, does nothing to help. At first Frederick sustains a few beatings but prevails. Later he defies orders to throw cold water on a prisoner. The beating he receives is so severe he is sent home after hospital. It leaves him in a semi-vegetative state with memory loss. Werner always remembers him and sends a page from a bird book to him.

Frederick Quotes

‘Your problem, Werner,’ says Frederick, ‘is that you still believe you own your life.’ Part 5, January Recess

The boys watch, the commandant tilts his head. Frederick pours the water onto the ground. ‘I will not.’ (Frederick) Part 5, Prisoner

Frederick said we don’t have choices … but in the end it was Werner who pretended there were no choices. Part 9, Clair de Lune

What the war did to dreamers. Part 12, Duffel

The upperclassman hands over a third pail. ‘Throw it,’ commands Bastian. The night steams, the stars burn, the prisoner sways, the boys watch, the commandant tilts his head. Frederick pours the water onto the ground. ‘I will not.’ Part 5, Prisoner

Reinhold von Rumpel

Sergeant Major Reinhold von Rumpel is forty-one years old. He studied crystallography in Munich, and apprenticed as a polisher in Antwerp. His background in gems finds him in a unique position and he finds a niche in the German army finding and evaluating precious jewels that have been obtained during the war. He does not flinch at where the jewels have come from, often in large quantities, even though the reader can imagine the spoils of concentration camps piled in front of the uncaring German.

Von Rumple is in hot pursuit of the famed Sea of Flames diamond. He learns that three fake decoys were made and the real one has been moved from the museum. After a negative diagnosis alerts him to the fact he has only a short time to live, he intensifies the search driven by the desire to regain health. As his health continues to decline, he eliminates all the fakes and is at the Saint-Malo chateau looking for the precious stone. He is shot and killed by Werner who comes to rescue the diamond’s custodian, Marie-Laure.

Reinhold von Rumple Quotes

Only a matter of time until the black vine chokes off his heart. Part 4, The Fort of La Cité

Because of the war, his job has expanded. Now Sergeant Major von Rumpel has the chance to do what no one has done in centuries … Part 3, Vienna