Werner's Search For Justice In All The Light We Cannot See

SAT Rewrite: Werner’s Search for Justice

In All the Light We Cannot See, Werner’s future is dictated by his environment, so chooses to walk the path of injustice by being blind to his own morality. Werner’s story begins in an orphanage where he is fated to work in the coal mines, a place where his father dies. Werner is adamant in liberating himself from this fate, and wants to pursue a career in science, which is shown in his skill for using and repairing radios. This draws the interest of the Hitler Youth in Werner, who agrees to join solely to free himself of the mines. This is against Jutta’s wishes, who tries to convince Werner there are destructive changes happening in Germany. Here, Werner’s motivations of self-preservation cloud his ethical judgement, and so he begins his journey along injustice. At the academy, Werner continues to ignore his own morality to continue to survive in his environment. Werner’s narrative

Here, his new goal is to save her, and so he begins lying to his unit. This is Werner putting his own morals over the pressures of his environment, beginning his shift towards understanding justice. Werner hears Marie-Laure play lectures on the radio, lectures he and Jutta used to listen to when he was at the orphan home. This reminds Werner of his time before the evil he’s committed as a Nazi, and shows him his mistake of ignoring his conscience, which led him astray in his search for justice. And, in saving Marie-Laure, he realizes that the path of justice was to be able to ‘see the light,’ meaning that he has to see the light in others, and understand their perspective. The radio symbolizes communication, which brings people together, allowing for the sharing of points of view. When Werner ignores this power, it becomes a tool of murder and injustice. Werner dies soon after he saves the girl, so, his search for justice is successful, although it is too