All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Anthony Doerr published in 2014. This historical fiction novel alternates between the lives of its two central characters: Marie-Laure Leblanc, a girl who grows up in Paris and loses her eyesight to cataracts at age six, and Werner Pfennig, a boy from a German mining town who joins the Nazi military to escape working in the mines.

In August 1944, Marie-Laure and Werner are both trapped in the French seaside city of Saint-Malo as Allied forces bomb and besiege the city. Alternating chapters recount each character’s life prior to this climactic scene. The novel explores themes of Entrapment and Escape, Light as a Source of Hope, and Lost and Redeemed Humanity. All the Light We Cannot See has also achieved popularity among the BookTok community. It is the second of Doerr’s novels, which also include About Grace (2004) and Cloud Cuckoo Land (2021).

This guide refers to the 2014 hardcover edition published by Scribner.

Content Warning: This study guide and source text depict antisemitism, war, bullying, and violence, including violence against children, as well as rape and sexual assault.

Plot Summary

Marie-Laure Leblanc grows up in Paris, the beloved daughter of Daniel LeBlanc, master locksmith of the National Natural History Museum. Blind from age six, Marie-Laure learns to navigate her world through her father’s patient and persistent guidance. He builds a scale model of her neighborhood so she can learn her way around independently. He also gives her Braille books, opening her mind and imagination to a world beyond her own.

Werner Pfennig grows up in a Protestant orphanage with his younger sister, Jutta. Extremely intelligent, Werner builds his own radio, which picks up far away broadcasts from cities around the world. These broadcasts, particularly a scientific program for children given by a Frenchman, give him and Jutta hope for a better life. His is life marked by poverty and fear of working in the mines where his father died, so Werner seizes an opportunity to escape the mines through admission to a Reich-sponsored school. Though he gets the education of his dreams in some ways, his experiences in the Nazi army cost him his humanity.

Werner and Marie-Laure both face considerable hardships while growing up: Werner confronts poverty without the help of his parents; Marie-Laure confronts the loss of her mother at her birth and must learn to deal with her blindness. However, their challenging histories also reveal their strengths, namely Werner’s intelligence and creativity, and Marie-Laure’s imagination and love of the natural world.

The novel’s different sections converge upon their meeting, which forms an extended climax within the novel. While the novel is not a traditional love story, Werner nevertheless falls in love with Marie-Laure when he sees her walk down the street in Saint-Malo. Werner rescues Marie-Laure from death and helps her escape the city, which is still under siege, redeeming himself through this act of courage in defiance of his so-called duty to the Reich.

The story continues beyond the war’s end, detailing the consequences of Werner’s act of humanity, and revealing Marie-Laure’s survival. Jutta’s son, Max, represents the survival of Werner’s bright curiosity, which is no longer overshadowed by poverty or history.