All The Light We Cannot See Character Analysis

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Fate. The development of events beyond a person’s control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. Many people do not believe in the concept of fate. Others believe that they can control their fates. In Anthony Doerr’s novel, All the Light We Cannot See, he provides points of view from two characters who are on different sides of a spectrum, yet their fates inexplicably intertwine. Whether you believe in this supposed supernatural occurrence, in the novel, readers can’t help but feel that had the two of these characters been born in a different time, they might have lived happily ever after rather than be dealt the cruel cards of their of fates. One’s sense of duty towards what they believe is right can lead to their fate. Werner …show more content…

“Volkheimer installs and repairs rooftop TV antennas”(Doerr 497). Volkheimer was once a soldier in the German Army during World War II, along with his friend and fellow soldier, Werner Pfennig. Volkheimer and Werner manage to escape their entrapment of the Hotel of Bees and while Volkheimer is not heard from again until one of the last chapters, we see now that he is a repair man. Volkheimer is fifty one years old and still remembers the horrors of his past as he sees the eyes of men who he killed and sees himself killing them all over again. While his actions after the war allowed him to escape the same fate as Werner, he will never be able to forget what he has seen and done. “Jutta Wette teaches sixth-form algebra in Essen”(Doerr 500). Jutta Wette, originally known as Jutta Pfennig, Werner Pfennigs sister, has escaped her fate of being stuck in the orphanage she grew up in and the horrors of the war. While she was raped by Russian soldiers that had broken into the house she was staying with three other girls and her old orphanage mother, Frau Elena, Jutta remained strong and didn’t let it deter her. She ended up going to school and becoming a math teacher. She is now married and has a six year old son named Max. “Marie-Laure LeBlanc manages a small laboratory at the Museum of Natural History in Paris and has contributed in significant ways to the study and literature…”(Doerr 511). Marie-Laure was once caught in the middle of the bloody war known as World War II. Being a young girl in the French city of Saint-Malo at the time and having the Germans occupy the city, the only reason she escaped was thanks to the young German soldier, named Werner, who rescued her. Marie went on to leave the past behind her, and even with her blindness, still found ways to enjoy her life. She became a doctoral student and often traveled the world with her uncle Ettiene, until his peaceful death at age eighty two. Marie eventually learned

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