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12. Laboratory
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
Marie-Laure has just been introduced to Jutta Pfennig, the sister of Werner. Jutta introduces her son, Max, and explains that she’s come to deliver something to Marie-Laure. Jutta reminisces out loud about Werner—the man who saved Marie-Laure’s life years ago. As Marie-Laure listens quietly, Jutta remembers that Werner was always small for his age, but very protective of his friends and family.
Although Werner died a seemingly random and meaningless death, we see that some part of him lives on in the hearts and minds of those who remember him. Marie-Laure clearly hasn’t forgotten about Werner, and Jutta remembers Werner in gorgeous detail, as she praises him for his kindness and his strong protective instincts. Although they have never met before, the two women can bond over this shared relationship, even if Marie-Laure’s time with Werner was incredibly brief.
Themes
Marie-Laure and Jutta continue talking about Werner. Marie-Laure explains that she left Werner with the key to the grotto, which guarded the model house. She wants to know how Jutta came to acquire the model house—Jutta doesn’t know exactly how the house made its way from the grotto to Volkheimer to her. Nevertheless, she says that she wants Marie-Laure to have the model house—better Marie-Laure than her. Marie-Laure accepts, and tells Jutta that she wants her to have something: a record that Etienne kept in his house, and used to play in the evenings. She promises to mail it to Jutta.
Once again, the interaction of unlike people (here, Jutta and Marie-Laure) is mediated by art, which can say otherwise inexpressible things. Marie-Laure and Jutta don’t speak much to one another—they simply wouldn’t know where to begin—but they exchange small objects that have beauty and significance for both of them. The radio broadcasts—which we never see Jutta re-experiencing—have an obvious emotional currency for her, and the same is true of Daniel’s model house.
Themes
