Analysis All The Light We Cannot See

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Source Many different types of literary criticism exist today; each one allowing a reader to see literature in a different perspective. In All the Light We Cannot See, as the title could imply, it would be reasonable to say that using a particular perspectives lights up different meanings in the book. Amongst the three different lens (Reader Response, Archetypal, Feminist) that I used to analyze All the Light We Cannot See, I personally found using the feminist lens to be very insightful. It does not answer my question of what the title means or what some of the recurring images meant, but it allowed me to understand that war does not play favourites regardless sex, race, intelligence, disability, and side that you're on. But before getting to the feminist lens, I would like to shine some light on reader response and archetypal criticism because they still helped me to gain insights and delve into the sea of meanings that Anthony Doerr left in his novel. Source Reader response melded my thoughts and personal experiences with the text of the novel to create meaning. …show more content…

In particular with All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr creates recurring symbols in a physical manifestation (i.e. locks, keys, radio, the Sea of Flames). And they represent what makes Marie-Laure and Werner hold precious. The radio is representative of their curiosity for the world. The Sea of Flame is representative of greed and is what caused the death of Sergeant Major Von Rumpel. The locks and keys were the protection of Marie-Laure's innocence, but then her father was captured (explicitly told, along with all his keys because he was a locksmith), resulting in the near death experience at the end of the novel. The archetypal lens shined a light on the human conscience in this