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8. The Transmitter
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
Werner has spent four days beneath the Hotel of Bees. He fiddles with his radio. Suddenly, he hears a voice—the voice is saying, “At three in the morning I was awakened by a violent blow.” The voice is that of a French woman—her accent is beautiful. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the broadcast comes to an end.
Werner has no idea that the person reading the broadcast is the granddaughter of Henri LeBlanc, the Frenchman who delivered the science lectures years ago. Doerr invites us to savor these kinds of dramatic ironies: we know so much more about what’s going on than either character does, and so can appreciate the poignancy of this moment.
Themes
Werner thinks back to Jutta. He remembers hearing about a Nazi rally when he was a young boy. Everyone else in the orphanage was wowed by the idea of a big public parade, and only Jutta saw through the glamour of the Nazis. Werner wonders, “How did Jutta understand so much about how the world worked?”
Marie-Laure’s voice immediately makes Werner think of Jutta, and seems to clear his mind to see the truth: Jutta has been the voice of reason all along, at least regarding the absurdity and hypocrisy of the Nazis. Only now does Werner truly realize it.
Themes
