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8. The Heads
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
Von Rumpel stands in Etienne’s house. He’s been taking morphine for his pain, and wonders if his disease has been getting worse. He imagines that he can save his own life by finding the Sea of Flames. With this in mind, he staggers back to the model of the city—he’s sure the stone is there somewhere.
We see that von Rumpel is very near death, and so is especially desperate to find the diamond in time. He seems to transform into an even more monstrous figure the closer he gets to reaching Marie-Laure.
Themes
