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5. Orders
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
In the spring in Saint-Malo, Madame Manec gets sick. Marie-Laure takes care of her, and so does Etienne. Etienne is a tender nurse—he even reads to Manec when she’s getting tired. Manec becomes very cold, and Etienne covers her with blankets.
It seems that Manec is at the end of her life, and we see that it was partly this fact that gave her such reckless courage—she knew she would die soon anyway, so she decided to at least spend the rest of her life doing something important.
Themes
