All The Light We Cannot See Character Analysis

Frank Volkheimer is a character that is shrouded by ambiguity throughout All the Light We Cannot See, and it is not until section twelve that the uncertainty clouding his character begins to slip away. Section twelve is commenced with the visual of Volkheimer sitting in his armchair eating butter cookies out of a tin in his lap while watching television after a long day of working as a repairman. The huge man is now fifty-one years old and is utterly alone; he does not possess any houseplants, pets or children, and his only company are the few books that he owns and the glaring lights of the billboard outside his empty apartment’s windows. In addition to his loneliness, guilt consumes his everyday thoughts, and the faces of dead men haunt him. However, when Volkheimer receives a package from the veterans’ service organization, his mind is flooded by an array of emotions and memories which pull him out of his despair long enough to have him deliver Werner’s only possessions to

Before Werner’s death, Volkheimer was a close friend of him, and his friendship with Werner allowed the reader to see the depth of his character. Werner showed the audience that despite his faults and at times questionable morality, Volkheimer could be a caring and gentle person. He was more than the brute that rumors made him out to be. At times it would seem that Volkheimer acted like the older brother of Werner, for he would often offer Werner his food, clothing, and patience whenever the smaller boy had fallen ill, and his loyalty to him seemed to be unshakable even when Werner hid Etienne’s radio signal from him. In the presence of Jutta and her family, Volkheimer displays his gentler side as he did with Werner; he’s cautious with the way he speaks and moves, apologizes when he sees he has upset Jutta, and even teaches her son how to make a paper