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5. Treatments
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
Madame Manec slowly recovers from her illness. In June, she and Marie-Laure walk, very slowly, around the city. Marie-Laure hears that Madame Manec drops off an envelope—she also guesses that Manec has picked up another one. Manec and Marie-Laure sit down to rest for a while. Manec tells Marie-Laure that she must continue to believe that Marie-Laure’s father will return to her. Manec insists that people should never stop believing in what’s important to them.
Manec gives Marie-Laure some important advice—never stop believing. The importance of hope, love, and belief in the novel is enormous: while the physical world is always in a state of deterioration (bombs are always dropping, species are going extinct, etc.), these qualities (especially among family members) remain uniquely strong and long-lasting. The problem is, this same idea can also be applied to von Rumpel’s situation—he clings to his belief in the power of the diamond, and uses this as justification for his actions.
Themes
