'All the Light We Cannot See' written by Anthony Doerr is a novel set during the Second World War, which follows the lives of two protagonists . The first is a blind girl, Marie-Laure Leblanc, living in Nazi-occupied France and the other is an orphan boy living in Germany, Werner Pfennig. While living inside the orphanage with his sister Werner discovers a broken radio. This radio is a profound and powerful moment in Werner Pfennig's life that causes a change in the way he contemplates and interprets the world, changing his actions throughout the book. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At the beginning of the novel, Werner is depicted as driven by a passion to understand the world around him. When Werner finds the radio, he falls in love with its concept: "A mouth against a microphone on a distant but simultaneous evening - its magic holds him rapt." Radio allowed Werner to increase his knowledge and understanding of physics. Hearing the Frenchman's reassuring voice, Werner's curiosity was sparked and the radio was essentially what provided him with the path to attending Schulpfota's school. Through Werner's time at the Schulpfota-based school and working for private German forces fixated on the hunting and extinction nemesis of radio transmitters, he was able to find comfort and security when around radios. “Seeing them this far calms him, as if he had turned around and found an old friend floating next to him in the middle of the sea.” This quote describes the emotional attachment young Werner felt towards the radio. In the midst of such extreme and unknown circumstances, Werner managed to maintain the familiarity of his innate understanding of mechanics. Towards the end of his short but incredible life, Werner was finally able to free himself from the hold that German Nazi ideology held over his actions. “Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.” This particular quote is mentioned four times in the novel and was uttered by the Frenchman when Werner first found the radio. The repetition of this significant quote allows readers to notice that Werner struggled when trying to interpret its meaning. The exposure Werner has had to the outside world carried through wave frequencies and broadcast through radios allows him to see through the propaganda and think critically through the manipulation of the German Nazis. By saving Marie Laure's life, Werner demonstrated that he had finally understood what the Frenchman had said many years before. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In conclusion, this novel allows readers to visualize the role and effect that radios had in Werner Pfennig's life. This essay analyzes just three of the many cases in which Werner was affected by the broken radio. Radio allowed him to achieve understanding, which provided him with an incredible opportunity to create a change in his worldview and ultimately grow in his beliefs and values as an individual..
tags