Food In Fahrenheit 45

Food is used symbolically all throughout the book, with the same purpose which is to describe characters and setting. In the last quote, Marie was described alongside her father, to have been tired through the symbolic use of food, even though the quote didn’t directly state it. Another example of food being used as a symbol is seen when Werner finds Marie in the attic. In this scene Marie and Werner were opening a can of peaches with a hurry that demonstrates the extent of their hunger. Although their intention is to actually eat the food, which contradicts the main point, it’s what they do at the end which demonstrates how food is used symbolically. When they began to eat the food the author stated, “She dips in two fingers , digs up a wet, soft,

It is implied that both characters were hesitant to eat the food, as if it was hard to believe that in the midst of war, there would still be something so sweet in the attic of an abandoned house. The extent of their hesitancy is shown when they decide to use just two fingers. It would of been understandable that Marie, who was blind, wanted to avoid cutting herself with the sharp ends of the can. However, Werner, who is not blind, does the same thing as Marie. He knows the food is inside, he sees the food, yet he goes slowly, as if something were to be stopping him. Which was his hunger, not just to fill his stomach, but the hunger of tasting something as sweet as a peach. This is shown by the way he eats the first peach. The author states that the peach “slithers down his throat like rapture.”(Doerr, 471) Demonstrating that Werner took his time to swallow the peach, just to enjoy the flavor, as if he would never get the opportunity to eat something so sweet again. Which also shows not just his hunger, but his hope of survival. By using the desire to eat food, the author has shown that Werner doesn’t believe he will ever get out of the war