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?