The Importance of the Radio: A Reader’s Response to All The Light We Cannot See

In Anthony Doerr’s novel, All the Light We Cannot See, the radio is the most important symbol throughout the story. It symbolizes the connection one has to the outside world. The story is based around life in the early 1940’s, so there weren’t many, if any, televisions around and definitely no cell phones to get hourly updates on news of recent events around the world. The radio was Werner and Marie-Laure’s only source to find out what was happening during the war. Due to Marie-Laure’s blindness, she couldn’t see for herself what was occurring just outside of her house, so the radio allowed for her to gain insight on any news. Once all radios were banned, the fact that Marie Laure kept on broadcasting, symbolized her opposition to the Germans. She risked her life to have the opportunity to bring hope to the lives of those around her by broadcasting the stories of her books.

The radio proved to be both good and bad for Werner. Although he was able to listen to the allies and other broadcasts, with that came the propaganda from the Germans. All radios that connected to stations other than local ones were banned leaving the voice of the Germans as the only voice that Werner was legally able to hear. Doerr describes that the radio “ties a million ears to a single mouth. Out of loudspeakers all around Zollverein, the staccato voice of the Reich grows like some imperturbable tree; its subjects lean toward its branches as if toward the lips of God. And when God stops whispering, they become desperate for someone who can put things right”. He and all the other children at his foster home were constantly having the voice of the Reich thrown at them because “even the poorest pit houses possessed a state-sponsored Volksempfanger VE301” that was “only marked for German frequencies”. Werner was listening to things such as, “our leader alone is to be thanked for the fact that, for German children, a German life has once again become worth living”, as well  as “only through the hottest fires can purification be achieved. Only through the harshest tests can God’s chosen rise”. In turn, when Werner got recruited by the German army due to his talents in math and mechanics, he misconstrued the actions of the Germans and believed that they were the good guys. Jutta tried to convince him otherwise but the German’s had successfully pulled off their brainwashing propaganda.

Jutta didn’t believe anything she heard from the Reich for a second. She had doubts since the day the lance corporal came into Children’s House and asked for Werner to come with him to the house of Herr Siedler to fix his radio. No German propaganda would fool her. She used the radio to her own advantage by channeling into illegal, foreign radio stations to discover the truth behind the actions of the Germans. Her curiosity showed her opposition to the Germans and gave her the insight she needed to not be reeled in like her brother and all of the other youth. She attempted to share her secret knowledge about the Germans when she told Werner,” don’t you understand what’s happening? We’re dropping bombs on Paris. Our airplanes are bombing Paris”, but he wouldn’t listen. The only thing he cared about was the fact that what she was doing was illegal.

From this information, does the radio bring more harm than good? What if the United States government had control over every message sent out to the public? Do you believe our news stations and radios are delivering truthful messages about current events around the world? What would life be like if all electronic sources of news were taken away? What measures would you take to ensure you knew the truth about what was happening?

 

A Reader’s Response to All The Light We Cannot See

I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed this novel not only because of my love for historical fiction, but I think that Anthony Doerr’s writing style is absolutely enchanting. From the short chapters that give us small windows into the daily life to the deep descriptions of places, sounds, smells, and feelings that leave us just as blinded as the characters themselves. Part of my attraction to this story is while it is a war story it isn’t necessarily an American one or a tale from the view of a Jewish person. It is a story about the Germans and the French. I gained new incite into the war especially from the French perspective because I feel that this one is often forgetting being an American.

In addition to Doerr’s writing style, I loved the way in which he presented propaganda. We often imagine propaganda as a loud screaming man, posters, and angry mobs or at least I do. However, in All the Light We Cannot See, propaganda is simply a voice of the radio in the attic. It isn’t abrasive. It isn’t overtly evil. That is what is so scary. I can remember that feeling of OH N0000000! watching as Hitler slowly crept into the orphanage. Greetings transformed from simple hellos to “Heil Hitler.” The radio was a glimmer of hope for both Werner and Jutta, his younger sister, as it gave them a connection to the outside world. It was a mesmerizing tool that provided knowledge and truth. Like the present saying, “They can’t put anything on the internet that isn’t true.” While this is a modern day joke, you can’t do better if you do not know better, and for the child at the orphanage as well as the rest of the German population that continued to tune could not know any better. I think that is what was so disconcerting. They didn’t know any better. It’s genius in fact! I loved the characters even when they were bad. I wanted them to know better. I think that this is the reality of war as a whole; the people fighting are not necessarily bad just misinformed. Additionally, history is always relayed by the winners. We won. We make the Germans the villains. I think part of the reason I love this novel so much is because it tells both sides of the story.

 

A Reader’s Response Post to All The Light We Cannot See

This book is set in a thought provoking time in history, and throughout it I

frequently found myself wondering how much research had to be

conducted to make this book historically and factually sound. From the

abundance of translated French words and phrases, to the German battle

jargon, it all seems spot on. That was my first observation that I felt

obligated to share.

The second is the way Doerr brilliantly crafts his book. It is one of those

books where the end is sort of revealed in the very fist chapter, and then

the rest of the book traces events that happen up to the opening chapter.

In that way I find it funny because it is a book about the creation of order

and reduction of entropy (WWII, purification) that is written out of order.

This kind of writing style is one of my favorites, and I appreciate a book

that holds up to it’s initial promise of excitement.

The book it multi-tiered and multi-layered, and appeals to a variety of

audiences. What I enjoy most about it is that I feel like it’s the kind of book

that I’ll pick up again in 10 years and have a completely different

perspective on. Tracing the lives of two teenagers during WWII, Marie-

Laure and a German orphan named Werner live to completely different

realities. The set up of the characters is fascinating to me because

watching Werner get recruited into the Hitler youth was the first time I ever

truly felt sympathy for how much purpose the Hitler youth seemed to give

to kids such a Werner. The reader knows all about the horrific things in

WWII, but I liked that the book chose to focus on real life struggles of

“normal” Europeans living through this war. Personally, I never thought

about what it must’ve been like to grow up in that era until this book. And it

is crafted in a way that makes you “root” for the both of them to make it out

alive. And my heartstrings were tugged on because of the realness of

family and relationships that can be shattered in an instant by the violence

of war.

Ultimately, the most prevalent symbol I thought of was the wooden houses.

The more the book progressed, the more Marie Laure’s model houses it

seemed began to mimic what cities and towns looked like in real life. Her

reality is shaped by things she can hear and smell and taste and feel, and

these wooden houses represent the vacancy of being sightless, and the

tragedy of the War.