All The Light We Cannot See Analysis

Nowadays, people hear, write, and talk about World War II so much that at some point the deep meaning of it starts to fade. As a result, any representation of World War II associates with the boredom. However, Anthony Doerr, a contemporary author, brought the spotlight back to the events of that war. He successfully used World War II as a setting in his book, All the Light We Cannot See, so it deservedly won prestigious awards. (Hooper) In his novel, Doerr realistically portrays not only the horror of the war, but also human nature through the use of vivid figurative language. Similar impression is caused by viewing another masterpiece, called Guernica created by Pablo Picasso. Just like All the Light We Cannot See it might seem strange, for

All effects of the war are permanent and long lasting. “Sixty million dead in six years means a death every three seconds” (Atkinson, 346). More than one generation was affected. Before the Second World War has begun, people already have been affected by the First World War. Both Doerr and Picasso convey the message about human nature. Daniel, Marie-Laure’s father, has lost his father during the war. “His father dead in the war” (Doerr, 27). Despite the fact of the loss, Daniel has devoted himself to his blind daughter. Then the World War II has started and took his happiness away from him. Marie-Laure’s father was arrested and imprisoned by Germans. Marie-Laure has never seen her father after he disappeared. Her uncle, Etienne, was also imprisoned but luckily he was able to run away. Werner has seen that people were killed for nothing. Jutta, Werner’s sister, was raped by the soldiers who supposed to save them. Doerr depicts very common stories of people of that time; the stories of these characters are not fiction, they are real examples of what World War II looked like. The reflection of Doerr’s motifs can be find in Picasso’s Guernica. Artist depicts a collective image of how people were affected by the war. “Guernica pictorizes [...] a medieval psychomachia that dramatizes the constant battle between the good and the evil impulses in the human soul” (Cantelupe 21). There is an inconsolable mother with a dead child on the left side of the painting. She is surrounded by the darkness; there is no light nor hope for her. There is a man who is burning in the flame of explosion. Body parts of dead people are all over the painting. Some researchers state that electric light which is depicted as a light bulb with eye like halo refers to the gas chambers and the spotlight used to catch accused people. The bull which refers to Minotaur; it can be