Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in All the Light We Cannot See, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
World War II, the Nazis, and the French Resistance
Interconnectedness and Separation
Fate, Duty, and Free Will
Family
Science and “Ways of Seeing”
Summary
Analysis
Eight soldiers are permanently installed at the Hotel of Bees, including Werner, Volkheimer, and Bernd. Werner continues to listen to the radio broadcast he remembers from his youth, and never mentions this to his superiors. Although the broadcasts are about French military matters, the music is the same, and Werner thinks back to his childhood in the orphanage as he listens. Werner calculates where the broadcast is coming from—a large, tall house near the water. He decides to visit the building, immediately.
It’s not clear what Werner is planning to do at Etienne’s house—Werner himself probably doesn’t know. It’s as if the inexorable forces of fate (and storyline) are finally drawing Werner and Marie-Laure together, and there’s nothing he can do to stop it.
Themes
