All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See

by

Anthony Doerr

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on All the Light makes teaching easy.

All the Light We Cannot See: 10. Music #3 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Von Rumpel sits in Etienne’s house, thinking about his own two children. He thinks about his daughter, Veronika, who loves to sing, and pictures her sitting in front of him, singing softly. Suddenly, he hears “the voice of a young man speaking in French about coal.”
Von Rumpel is confused, and can’t grasp the importance of what he’s hearing. From his perspective, the only thing that matters is the diamond, while from Werner’s perspective the diamond is useless, and the broadcast is priceless. It’s especially symbolic that this is the lecture about the creation of coal—a very similar process to the creation of a diamond.
Themes
Interconnectedness and Separation Theme Icon
Science and “Ways of Seeing” Theme Icon