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  • Essay / Importance of Radio in Doerr’s “All the Light We Cannot See”

    In Anthony Doerr's novel All the Light We Cannot See, we are shown the story of two very different characters who come together in an unlikely way: a radio station. In 2019, it's sometimes difficult to get an idea of ​​the scale of radio. People used it for news, music, weather warnings, and even communication. Its main importance lies in its use for communication throughout the novel. The radio in this novel is a very important part of the story and without it the story wouldn't even be the same. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Since the novel is based in the 1940s, the technology that took you to the outside world was very limited. Televisions existed, but few families owned them due to poverty after the Great Depression, and cell phones did not yet exist. Thus, the radio in this story serves as a link between Marie-Laurie LeBlanc and Werner Pfennig and with the world around them. After finding and repairing the radio, Werner plays with it and comes across a broadcast from an old man telling his audience to "open your eyes and see what you can before they close forever" (Doerr , 49 years old). This first connection begins the importance of radio; Werner unknowingly listens to the broadcast of Marie-Laure's great-uncle, which will later connect him to Marie-Laure when he needs to save her. This part of the novel is an example where the radio connected two people. Not only did the radio provide an unknown connection between the two main characters, but it also provided means of communication through the supporting characters. Marie-Laure's great-uncle, Etienne used the radio to contact his brother Henri when he went to war. “I thought if I made the show loud enough, my brother would hear me. That I could bring him some peace, protect him as he had always protected me” (Doerr, 161). Etienne tried hard to connect with his brother through radio broadcasts, unfortunately he never succeeded, but this struggle to connect shows how important radio was to the means of communication during wars. Even if the connection was never made, this attempt probably gave Etienne a feeling of making a difference and being able to connect to him. The most valid reasoning behind the importance of radio throughout the novel is the fact that Marie-Laurie would not have survived without its power of connection. When Marie-Laure finally gives up and waits for Von Rumpel to find her, she decides to play music loud enough to be heard. This act towards Marie-Laure was almost a sign of defeat, but she was unaware of the impact it had caused. Werner heard the music on the broadcast and immediately begins to escape from the ruins he and Volkheimer were in. Thanks to the radio, Marie-Laure was able, without knowing it, to contact Werner, which allowed her to save his life. Without both characters having access to the radio, Marie-Laure would have been found by Von Rumpel, and Werner would not have had a valid reason to leave the place where he was. Radio truly saved their lives. In today's world, radio is not used as much as it was before technology became more advanced. Rather, the radio is only used as background noise during a car ride to the store, so what are our ways of connecting to the outside world? Our cell phones. From.