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

In All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, one of the protagonists Werner Pfennig is introduced as a boy who has been recruited to be a part of the Wehrmacht. It was his responsibility to locate and destroy anti-German radio broadcasts during World War II. Werner came to be known through his actions, and though it was debatable whether or not these actions were heroic, Werner’s character can be seen as intrinsically good. As a child, he was told he would go on to do “something great,” and he certainly did. Werner Pfennig exemplified the definition of a hero because he had an unusual childhood, he had a special weapon that only he could use, and he descended into some type of underworld. First, Werner fits the criteria of a hero because he had an unusual childhood. He and his sister Jutta were raised

His knack for science and technology made him a useful pawn in the mission of the Wehrmacht, a team that located and destroyed anti-German radio broadcasts. Werner, using his mathematician mind was able to “triangle…in” (343) on each broadcast “until [it was] reduced to a single point, a barn or a cottage or a factory basement” (343). However, once Werner discovered that the located broadcasters were being murdered, he thought of his sister Jutta and was reluctant in helping. On the other hand, Werner’s flair for radios allowed him to save the lives of many. In the basement of the Hotel of Bees, Werner constructed a radio which only yielded static and just as he was about to give up, “the static coalesc[ed] into music” (454). In building the radio, Werner heard the music and found the will to find a way out, not only saving himself, but also saving Frank Volkheimer and Marie-Laure LeBlanc. Werner’s use of his special weapon, which allowed him to perform feats both good and evil, is what characterized him as a