All the Light We Cannot See: The Costs of War Anonymous 11th Grade

Anthony Doerr’s remarkable novel, “All the Light We Cannot See,” is a literary piece that moves briskly, efficiently, and beautifully in precise and pristine sentences. Every sentence is a lyrical poetry that the author carefully structured. The novel is a work of historical fiction opening with two memoirs of two different children in the opposite sides of World War Two. This literature tackles the grand themes of war, fate and free will, the sacrifices of parents, physical blindness versus spiritual blindness, fear, control versus power, the power of knowledge, and the possibilities of magic and legend. The most prominent theme of the novel highlights war. Doerr’s work of fiction uses physical symbols to showcase the effects of war on people, of resistance to oppression, and the effort of citizens trying to maintain normality, creating a whole better understanding for readers about the outcomes of war. The author uses three symbols in the novel that are closely tied to the main characters, and these symbols will help to portray the author’s view on war through a new perspective to surface hidden stories of World War II.

The first symbol that the author uses to explain the results of war is a small model of the town of...