All The Light We Cannot See Character Analysis

While it may seem that society’s restrictions continually halt the way one progresses in life, the ability to defy the odds and overcome them truly defines a person’s courage. This fact is evident in the novel, All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, where an orphan named Werner is continuously forced to participate in cruel Nazi practices because his enrollment in the Hitler Youth is the only way he is able to get the proper education to become an engineer. Similarly, in Keeping the Faith, directed by Edward Norton, a local rabbi named Jake is restricted from publically dating his childhood best friend, Anna because of the fact that she is not Jewish. First off, characters originally alter their views and behaviour due to their circumstances,

which will later result in a loss of their identities without change. Also, life altering events provide characters with a reason to doubt their society, which can allow for change in the characters’ behaviour to occur. Finally, a conflict occurs where the characters are given the chance to either embrace their true selves by changing their behaviour or lose themselves entirely. Essentially both literature pieces illustrate that when individuals are unable to be honest with themselves and continue to allow society to dictate their behaviour, they will never be able to attain a true sense of self.

Foremost, circumstances originally cause characters to alter their views and actions which will result in a loss of their identities without change. This idea is shown in All the Light We Cannot See, when Werner begins his final test for the Hitler Youth, which involves showing trust in the Nazi party. He jumps off a high platform to then be caught by a flag held by recruiters and after, “He rolls to his feet uninjured. The examiner clicks his stopwatch, scribbles on his clipboard, looks up. Their eyes meet for half a second . . . ‘Heil Hitler!’ yells Werner” (116). Unlike the boys who had done the activity previously, Werner does not hesitate to jump because he is desperate to make himself stand out as a way to prove his commitment to the Nazi party. He places himself in this situation not because he supports their cause, but rather because he believes his enrollment in the academy is the only way to pursue his innate talent of engineering. This idea shows he is willing to commit himself to a cause he has little knowledge in if that means he is able pursue the future he wants. Furthermore, when

Werner later returns from his exams, Jutta confronts him about his choice to join the Hitler Youth and expresses doubts about the integrity of the Nazi Party but he dismisses her worries: “Doubts: slipping in like eels. Werner shoves them back. Jutta is barely twelve years old, still a child” (133). Werner is forced to undermine Jutta’s intelligence because she continuously reinforces fears that he is having himself and knows that if he begins to doubt the integrity of the Nazi party, he will be unable to join to with a clear belief that he is becoming the person he has always wanted to be. Similarly in Keeping the Faith, when Jacob is met by his congregation while on a date with Anna, he denies their romantic involvement and simply states, “No. I mean-- I mean, I'm with an old friend.” For Jake, his affair with the non-Jewish Anna strains his relationship with his congregation, who has the power to end his career as a rabbi. Therefore he denies his true feelings to himself and Anna, by refusing to treat the relationship as anything other than a fling in the hopes that he will be able to continue his success without inner turmoil. Therefore, the characters in both All the Light We Cannot See and Keeping the Faith change their morals and personal views in order to fit into their society and will experience a loss of identity if they continue to do so.
Furthermore, the characters experience life changing events which give them a reason to doubt their society and allows for change in the character’s behaviour to occur.

This fact is evident in The Light We Cannot See, and shown during a physical training exercise at the academy where the cadets are able to choose the weakest boy and then chase him down: “ . . . the pack draws closer and Werner feels annoyed. Why couldn’t Ernest be faster?” (170). When Werner pities the weak runner, he experiences inner turmoil because he realizes that whom he truly is, is not whom the Nazis expect him to be. He then realizes that if he is to succeed in the academy, he must give up the right to think for himself completely and become someone who is not only accustomed to the brutal environment, but encourages it. Also, when Fredrick develops a brain injury from an attack planned by upperclassmen, Werner is unable to bear seeing his friend in that condition and begins to search for his old bird collection book: “Werner lifts the flaps of boxes, peering in. ‘Surely it’s around here.’” (296). Werner becomes desperate to find the book because he believes that if he shows Fredrick a part of his past, he will be able to recover and therefore Werner will be able to avoid the fact that his lack of involvement is one of the reasons for his friend’s injury. However Fredrick remains the same, and he becomes a permanent reminder of the Hitler Youth’s brutality, as well as helps Werner realize that in the

process of achieving his dreams, he has also begun to deteriorate as a person due to the fact that he continuously changes his morals to succeed in the academy. Also, when Werner is enrolled into the military he makes an error when tracking the location of a German transmission which results in the death of a young girl. While he is still in shock, he watches the remaining members of his special unit clean the scene of the crime quickly: “ . . . how could Neumann Two not have known, but of course he didn’t, because that is how things are with Neumann Two, with everybody in this unit, in this army, in this world, they do as they’re told, they get scared, they move about with only themselves in mind. Name me someone who does not” (368). The death of the girl is a plot device that shows Werner his decision to participate in cruel Nazi practices impact not only his future, but the futures of many innocent people whose deaths he will never be able to compensate for. He then realizes that in an effort to finally take control of his own destiny, he has sacrificed his previous morals and freewill to become a puppet of the Germans just like the rest of the soldiers. Similarly in Keeping the Faith, when Jacob is livid at Anna after she reveals their secret relationship to his mother, she finally gets fed up with his unwillingness to commit and cries, “You think you're sorry now. Wait till you realize I just went out that door and I'm not coming back.” This quote shows that when Jake continuously denies his feelings for Anna in order to preserve the success of his career, he shows that he is unwilling to risk anything for her sake and gives her the impression that she is less important than his job and therefore, causes him to lose the relationship. This situation causes Jake to realize that he never will become a person who is worthy of the healthy relationship he desires if he continues to be untrue to himself about his feelings in order to appease others. When both Jake and Werner experience life changing events, they are shown the consequences of allowing their behaviour to be completely influenced by society and realize that have become a person they do not desire to be.
Finally, a conflict occurs where the characters are given the opportunity to either embrace their true selves by changing their previous behaviour or lose their identities completely. This idea is shown when Werner accesses the location of Marie-Laure’s German transmissions but instead states he found, “‘Nichts,’ . . . Nothing” (407). Since Werner is the only one to hear the broadcast, he is able to decide what to do with the information without his military team being able to influence his decision. This situation allows him to finally become the person he truly is, instead of the person he pretends to be in order to survive in the Nazi party and is, therefore able to attempt to make amends for his past mistakes by disobeying his orders to save a life. Later when Volkheimer and Werner become trapped in the basement after the Allied bombings, they both decide to listen to Marie-Laure’s broadcasts while she is hiding from a German officer. However when she becomes tired of waiting to be discovered, Marie-Laure plays music loudly which inspires Volkheimer to risk his life by blasting a way out of the hotel basement rubble where he and Werner are trapped: “Werner sets one hand over his helmet, and Volkheimer throw the grenade at the place where the stairwell used to be” (455). After Marie-Laure’s music saves Volkheimer’s life, he chooses to forget about her illegal transmissions and instead allows Werner to attempt to rescue her from the German solider as a form of repayment. This situation allows Werner to save Marie-Laure and therefore defy what society tells him is wrong and instead do what he believes is right. Therefore, in both pieces of literature, a conflict arises where individuals must learn to break free from the restrictions society places on them in order to make amends for their past misgivings as well as become their true selves.
Individuals will never be able to attain a true sense of self if they continue to allow society to dictate their behaviour to the point where they can never be honest with themselves. First off, in All the Light We Cannot See and Keeping the Faith, characters begin to alter their behaviour in order to become respected figures in their society and continually deny their true feelings, which will eventually result in a loss of their identities without change. Secondly, the characters experience life alternating events which causes them to have reservation about allowing society to dictate their behaviour and therefore allows for change to occur in the characters’ actions. Finally, conflicts arise where the characters will either embrace their true selves by breaking free from society’s restrictions or lose themselves completely if they continue to allow society to influence their actions. Therefore, if an individual sacrifices the parts of themselves that defines their unique persona in order to obtain success, then their victory is only a defeat.