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Summary
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Everything Is Illuminated, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Storytelling and the Holocaust
Generational Trauma
Meaning and Self-Discovery
Love and Grief
Chance, Misfortune, and Luck
Summary
Analysis
Alex Perchov lives in Ukraine with his family. In stilted English, Alex boasts that he has many girlfriends. Alex’s Mother works as a waitress, and his Father works for a travel agency called Heritage Tours, which serves Jewish people, often from the United States, who come to visit towns where their relatives and ancestors came from in Ukraine and Poland. The agency then provides a guide, driver, and translator for the people who come. Alex’s Grandfather has also worked for the company for a long time as a driver. Alex’s Grandfather says that he has gone blind in his old age, but Alex’s Father doesn’t believe him.
At the beginning of the novel, Alex almost immediately begins boasting about his relationships with women, suggesting that Alex is characterized by his bombast and bluster. The conflict between Alex’s Grandfather and Alex’s Father points to tension between the two and the possibility of a strained relationship. The passage also alludes to the Holocaust without directly mentioning it when discussing Jewish people’s ancestors and relatives who originally came from towns in Ukraine and Poland. Many of those people would have been displaced or killed during the Holocaust, as the novel will later make clear.
Active
Themes
One day, the agency receives word that they have a new client coming named Jonathan Safran Foer. Jonathan intends to write a book about a town near Lutsk, where his grandfather is from. Alex’s Father appoints Alex’s Grandfather to be Jonathan’s driver. Alex’s Father says they don’t need a guide because Alex’s Grandfather is knowledgeable enough to act as the guide. Alex’s Grandfather doesn’t want to do it because he's tired of working in his old age, but after Alex’s Father implores him to do it, his Grandfather relents and agrees to go.
Active
Themes
