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Character Analysis Of Werner Pfennig In All The Light We Cannot See

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Werner Pfennig, a main character of Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, is forced to undergo a great deal as a young German boy. Thrust into the war effort because of his adeptness with technology, Werner is forced to make a multitude difficult decisions that his sister, Jutta, would have disagreed with. For a large portion of his service, Wener does not accept responsibility for the fact that he is involved in the loss of many lives. Similarly, Frederick was reduced to a nearly vegetative state because Werner never stepped in to help him. Nevertheless, Werner is able to make up for these atrocities by helping to save the life of Marie Laure. Werner is able to grow as a character and redeem himself for all the wrongs he has committed. Werne starts out as a German orphan …show more content…

A small girl with big clear eyes that reminded him of Jutta’s was killed because of Werner, and he knows that. What is worse is that she was killed for nothing, as there was no radio there. Werner is very shaken by this death.He could not get her out of his dead, could not close the door and turn the other way, symbolized by the Volkheimer not being able to literally close the door because the woman was blocking it. To Werner, this little girl represented light and hope, and now she was dead. After this, a change in Werner’s character was sensed. Determined to redeem himself for the deaths he had caused already, he started by not telling Volkheimer of Marie’s radio signal he had picked up. His true saving grace was when he helped Marie Laure to safety rather than turn her over to German officials, where she would more than likely be killed. In doing so, Werner got himself captured, which he knew would happen. He sacrificed his own well being for Marie Laure, who had taken the form of the little girl for Werner. Werner was finally able to redeem

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