Marie-Laure In 'All The Light We Cannot See'

Sierra L. Fairley

Ms. Lynn Criswell

English 111

11 December 2016

All the Light We Cannot See

In the exceptional novel All the Light We Cannot See, author Anthony Doerr, tells the story of two young adults whom had to experience life during World War II.

Marie-Laure Leblanc, a blind girl whom had to flee from Paris with her father, quickly learned how to adapt to a new town and eventually led to experience the war alone as a young blind girl. Marie-Laure’s story ends up corresponding to Werner Pfennig, a young orphan boy from Germany, whom has a huge fascination for radios. During the war Werner is in charge of pinpointing and destroying opposing German radio broadcasts. Towards the end of the novel the two characters ended up meeting one another

When Marie-Laure was first introduced in the novel it was made known that she lost her sight due to cataracts. Already at very young age, Marie-Laure had to learn how to adapt to her own disability and make some changes. Although it was very tough for her to adapt, Marie-Laure was very determined to live a normal life. “Sixteen paces to the water fountain, sixteen back. Forty-two to the stairwell, forty-two back. Marie-Laure draws maps in her head, unreels a hundred yards of imaginary twine, and then turns and reels it back in” (Doerr 44). This shows how super intelligent and imaginative she was when it came to dealing with her disability. She found different ways in using her four remaining senses in order to learn a new way to make it on her own in life.

Marie-Laure’s father was also a major help in helping her embrace her disability. He built her model replicas of their hometown in Paris, created wooden puzzle boxes for her to solve, and books with Braille were just a few of the many things he did to make sure she lived a normal life. “He says she is his émerveillement. He says he will never leave her, not in a million years” (Doerr 31). This shows that deep down Marie-Laure’s father knew that he wouldn't always be around and he wanted to make sure that

Marie-Laure was able to survive through the war on her own, get rescued by Werner and was finally able to escape Saint Malo in hopes of reconnecting with loved ones. Although Marie-Laure didn't get to run away with Werner or reconnect with her father after the war, she was finally on her own with a great job and just enjoying life in Paris with her Uncle Etienne. This truly showed how much she has changed as a person and finally being able to care for herself.

Another character that showed tremendous change throughout the novel was Werner Pfennig. Werner grew up in an orphanage alongside his younger sister Jutta. He believed that there was going to be no future for him and that he would end up just like his father working in the mines. “The only place your brother is going, little girl, is into the mines. As soon as he turns fifteen, same as every other boy in the house” (Doerr 58). This gave Werner the ability to work even harder. His fascination for radios and his determination to learn everything there was about them just set him apart from all of the other