Anthony Doerr's All The Light We Cannot See

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Anthony Doerr’s work provides a sense of empathy and realism. It is a piece of historical fiction that, although it did not actually happen, very well could have occurred, as it contained true events and no fantastic aspects. He possesses a gift that allows him to grant a captivating documentation of events. The use of language and the present tense, third person narration in All The Light We Cannot See allows the readers to feel as if the stories are occurring right in front of them.
The narrator's language style unveils the story slowly and reveals what is to come in small parts. In the first chapter leaflets are described as “pour[ing] across the sky[,] they [are] blow[ing] across the ramparts...”(3). The reader is left in a temporary mystery, not knowing where they are, why they are there, and what they say. This method of storytelling is an accurate replication of real life, how the occurrences are not always exhilarating or fast paced and people don't know everything that is happening and that will come. When literature is written this way it is more …show more content…

It is not a story belonging to the narrator. The narrator tells the reader what is happening in a sergeant’s mind, “in his ears comes the voice of his father: You are only being tested.” (447). This would be an impossible feat if the narrator was a real person within the story. Readers experience the struggles and triumphs of several characters without knowing every thought and feeling, as if readers were a separate accomplice alongside the characters. They learn of Marie-Laure thoughts when a neighbor is trying to get her to leave Saint Malo, as “she thinks of the model upstairs… she hears Dr. Geffard's voice...”(435). The reader gets a sense of the emotions and feelings that arise for those inside of the events. This and all of the prior qualities of the tale have same effect of drawing the consumer in by making it seem

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