Protection

The idea of protection is prominent in Doerr’s novel and can be seen in two distinct parts: self-protection and being protected by someone or something else. It influences characters’ decisions and changes life paths. It brings hope and security.

Self-protection is not the same as selfishness although characters like Major von Rumpel share both traits. Werner, facing a life in the mines and a very possible chance of the same deathly fate of his father, finds a way to protect himself. He joins the school at Schulpforta. Once there, he notices the cruel culture of the training academy and finds a way to protect himself by not standing out. This means not helping Frederick. He finds security and self-preservation in the group. Major von Rumpel, riddled with cancer, seeks to protect himself by obtaining the Sea of Flames diamond. He feigns interest in helping others to gain information of its whereabouts but is single-minded in his mission. Marie-Laure personifies a whelk and feels the safety of a having a shell. She uses logic and imaginary conversations with her father to survive. Filling tubs with water, hiding in the grotto, broadcasting a plea for help: Marie-Laure is a survivor.

Marie-Laure is also reliant on outside protection. First her father then Madame Manec, Uncle Etienne and eventually Werner all reach out to protect the blind girl. Etienne is another example of one who relies on outside protection. When he would freeze in fear during the war, it is his brother who protected him. Etienne tries to repay this favour by broadcasting a record, hoping the deceased brother will benefit from it. Etienne also sees the ghost of Madame Manec as a protecting force. Volkheimer is a protection for Werner, especially when he is unwell.

Certain objects are sought for protection. The giant gun at the Hotel of Bees, the ‘queen bee’ gun, is expected to look after all the German soldiers buzzing around it like drones. The Sea of Flames diamond offers the promise of the greatest protection. The myth holds that the owner will not come to harm. Several characters, despite their initial understanding of science, nature and logic, still place some trust in the precious stone. Daniel leaves it with Marie-Laure possibly with a hope it might protect her while he is gone. Von Rumpel seeks its healing at any cost. Even Marie-Laure holds it and asks for protection, if that is what the stone does.

Protection Quotes

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

The keeper of the stone would live forever, but … misfortunes would fall on all those he loved. Part 1, The Warder

Marie-Laure curls into a ball beneath her bed with the stone in her left fist and the little house in her right. Part 2, Number 4 rue Vauborel

‘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

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

Her Majesty, the Austrians call their cannon, and for the past week these men have tended to it the way worker bees might tend to a queen. They’ve fed her oils, repainted her barrels, lubricated her wheels; they’ve arranged sandbags at her feet like offerings. The royal acht acht, a deathly monarch meant to protect them all. Part O, The Boy

‘Henri would stay right beside me and whisper those scripts, the ones we recorded. Sometimes all night. Over and over. As though weaving some kind of protective screen around us. Until morning came.’ Part 3, The Professor

‘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

She squeezes into the tiny space where the ladder rises to the garret. Then she reaches back through the wardrobe, finds its doors, and closes them. Protect me now, stone, if you are a protector. Part 6, Someone in the House

…sees the ghost of Madame Manec standing there in the moonlight. She holds out a hand, and sparrows land one by one on her arms, and she tucks each one into her coat. Part 7, Loudenville

Relationships

All the Light We Cannot See depicts a world in which connections exist between many people and places. One person’s life, decisions and actions profoundly impacts others. The German boy who loves to listen and the French girl who cannot see initially seem worlds apart but are intrinsically linked through events, people and beliefs. Etienne broadcasts from Saint-Malo and captures Werner and Jutta’s imagination. Years later, when Werner is sent to hunt down the radio user, it is this memory that spares Marie-Laure.

The idea of family is seen as the base for positive connections. Werner and his sister are supportive and loving as they grow up in the children’s home. Daniel LeBlanc is devoted to his daughter. Etienne offers his relatives a place to stay. Frederick’s mother is dutiful after Frederick is beaten. However, the notion of a connected family is extended. Madame Manec is considered part of the family at Number 4 rue Vauborel. Frau Elena is a treasured mother figure for Jutta and Werner. Volkheimer is like a big brother to Werner and so on. The novel concludes with the same idea of family, Marie-Laure a loving mother and grandmother.

Relationships Quotes

Papa Papa Papa Papa, Marie-Laure is saying, but her body seems to have detached itself from her voice, and her words make a faraway, desolate cadence. Part 2, Number 4 rue Vauborel

‘Your sister,’ says Volkheimer. ‘Think of your sister.’ (to Werner) Part 4, What They Have

In her head, her father reasons: Marie-Laure. Part 6, Someone in the House

He thinks of his own daughters, how much they would love to see a city on a table. His youngest would want him to kneel beside her. (von Rumpel) Part 6, Sixth-floor Bedroom

Over time, thinks Marie-Laure, events that seem jumbled either become more confusing or gradually settle into place. The boy saved her life three times over. Once by not exposing Etienne when he should have. Twice by taking that sergeant major out of the way. Three times by helping her out of the city. Part 12, Visitor

‘If your same blood doesn’t run in the arms and legs of the person you’re next to, you can’t trust anything.’ (Etienne) Part 7, Alive Before you Die

‘I thought that if I made the broadcast powerful enough, my brother would hear me.’ (Etienne) Part 3, The Professor

Pure carbon, each atom linked to four equidistant neighbours, perfectly knit, tetrahedral, unsurpassed in hardness. Part 12, Sea of Flames

Duty, Fate and Free Will

Through the novel’s overriding significance of the Sea of Flames, Doerr is suggesting that, despite characters’ best efforts, fate will prevail. The introduction of supernatural powers, the continual blurring of lines between the living and the dead, ghosts and apparitions all conjure a feeling that the physical world is not the only force in deciding life’s events. All the Light We Cannot See takes the reader on a journey similar to that of many characters. Marie-Laure, Daniel, von Rumpel, all see the diamond as a fable but after examining the events that transpire around them, shift some blame to the legend.

Free will is queried in light of the dominance of the Nazi party. Exemplified at the Schulpforta academy, the only way to survive is to toe the party line. Frederick’s revolt and subsequent beating is an example of the lack of self-determination available.

Ultimately, free will supersedes and the characters take control of their own lives. Jutta, through her understanding of the world given by overseas broadcasts, resists the propaganda supplied by the Germans. Werner eventually seizes an opportunity to take control of his own life and defy authority. Even Volkheimer seems pleased to be freed from the control of the army as the Germans fail in Saint-Malo.

Duty, Fate and Free Will Quotes

The keeper of the stone would live forever, but … misfortunes would fall on all those he loved. Part 1, The Warder

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

‘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

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

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

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

Light / Dark

Congruent with the title, the novel explores the idea of light and dark. It encompasses the notion of physical light, seeing and not seeing, and the deeper application of the terms in a good and evil context. The dichotomy is often presented together. Characters like Marie-Laure, who literally lives in darkness, holds more light in terms of love and hope than other characters. Werner, whose sight is tested by the Germans and found to be competent, is blinded to the reality behind his country’s propaganda.

In the darker times of their lives, characters seek light. Physical light is symbolic of a need for something greater. Trapped in the cellar, Volkheimer and Werner are desperate for a light that will stay on. The two characters are also in need of truth and hope, a new start considering their part in the war. Frederick’s mother leaves the lights on so she does not feel alone. Ironically, once pleased that her Jewish neighbours would be taken, now she is isolated with her son and leaves the light on as if expecting someone.

Light and vision are associated with knowledge. The professor urges listeners to open their eyes and see before they are closed forever. Keeping with Doerr’s position which holds that no singular entity can be entirely isolated – there is no absolute good or evil, absolute light or dark – light as knowledge can be deceptive. He describes the miners moving toward the light like bugs to a trap. They believe they have a future but it is not safe. The sultan himself when wearing the Sea of Flames diamond became indistinguishable from light. The diamond representing, in this case, a false light.

The light we cannot see? The author explains what he means by the title. First and foremost, it is a reference and to all the light we literally cannot see, that is, the wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum that are beyond the ability of human eyes to detect (radio waves, of course, being the most relevant). Second, it is metaphorical of the countless invisible stories still buried within World War Two. Stories of ordinary children, for example, are a kind of light we do not typically see. Ultimately, the title is a comment on the excess time we spend focused on a small fragment of the spectrum of possibility.

Light / Dark Quotes

‘Open your eyes, concludes the man, and see what you can with them before they close forever.’ (The Professor) Part 1, The Professor

‘So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?’ (The Professor) Part 1, The Professor

Marie-Laure says, ‘I heard that the diamond is like a piece of light from the original world. Before it fell. A piece of light rained to earth from God.’ Part 1, Sea of Flames

A light emerges, a light not kindled, Werner prays, by his own imagination: an amber beam wandering the dust. Part 2, Trapped

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

She … switches on every lamp and overhead fixture as she always does, not to see, but because she is alone, because the apartments on either side are vacant, and because the lights make her feel as if she is expecting someone. (Frederick’s mother) Part 13, Frederick

…the miners spilling out of warehouses with their lunch pails toward the mouth of the elevator like insects toward a lighted trap. Part 1, Zollverein

It was said that when the young prince sat on his throne and the sun hit him just so, he became so dazzling that visitors could not distinguish his figure from light itself. Part 1, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle

She leaves it on the counter as dusk falls, and measures out a cup of rice and sets it to boil, and switches on every lamp and overhead fixture as she always does, not to see, but because she is alone, because the apartments on either side are vacant, and because the lights make her feel as if she is expecting someone. (Frederick’s mother) Part 13, Frederick

How he wishes he had eyes to see the ultraviolet, eyes to see the infrared, eyes to see radio waves crowding the darkening sky, flashing through the walls of the house. (Werner) Part 7, The Principles of Mechanics

Memory

Undoubtedly, memories haunt the characters in All the Light We Cannot See. Etienne and Volkheimer’s trauma after the war is a prime example as is Werner’s recurring memory of the girl shot when the unit mistakenly thought there was a radio in the house. For some, like Frederick, it seems memory is too painful. Werner’s memory also challenges him. His recall of Jutta’s opposition to the Nazi war machine’s ideology is a constant source of dissonance as he completes the orders asked of him in the war.

Memory is often seen as a place of refuge or encouragement. Sergeant von Rumpel’s memory of his father is a source of inspiration. He constantly recalls idioms and sayings that his father passed on and applies them when needed. Likewise, Marie-Laure’s memory of her father is so strong she can construct conversations with him and use that logic to construct plans. When Werner needs encouragement, he recalls Dr Hauptmann’s mantra that scientists are constrained by the times. Other characters retreat into memories as a type of defence mechanism. When the external world appears at its darkest, they withdraw to a lighter place in their mind, to fond memories. Werner is found picturing his time with Jutta and Frau Elena. Marie-Laure recollects time with her father and the museum. The message, it seems, is that memories hold within them the same double-edged sword that Doerr describes in many of his themes: there is good and bad, light and dark in all things.

Memory Quotes

Papa Papa Papa Papa, Marie-Laure is saying, but her body seems to have detached itself from her voice, and her words make a faraway, desolate cadence. Part 2, Number 4 rue Vauborel

In her head, her father reasons: Marie-Laure. Part 6, Someone in the House He thinks of His Own

A sentence Etienne once read aloud returns: Even the heart, which in higher animals, when agitated, pulsates with increased energy, in the snail under similar excitement, throbs with a slower motion. Part 6, In the attic

Over time, thinks Marie-Laure, events that seem jumbled either become more confusing or gradually settle into place. Part 12, Visitor

Every hour, she thinks, someone for whom the war was memory falls out of the world. We rise again in the grass. In the flowers. In songs. (Marie-Laure) Part 13

He won’t know you. Don’t try to make him remember. It will only upset him. (About Frederick) Part 5, Frederick