Blog #1 - All the Light We Cannot See

After watching The Zookeeper's Wife and being reminded of my current fiction book, All the Light We Cannot See, I decided to write my first blog post as a literary criticism on how they provide support for each another.  Thanks for reading!

The Zookeeper’s Wife as a Form of Support to All the Light We Cannot See

During the course of World War II, there are many incredible perspectives that are unable to be explored throughout the course of a single novel.  However, after recently reading about and watching videos on the war, I discovered that various forms of media were able to explore and properly display these points of view.  The novel All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, and the film The Zookeeper’s Wife contrast and support each other in a way that they would be unable to individually.  Interestingly, both are able to remain similar although the book is fictional and the movie tells a true story.

All the Light We Cannot See occurs mostly between 1940 and 1944, but by halfway through the book, it has included several flashbacks to the characters’ childhood before the war began.  Instead of focusing primarily on the history of the war and what is occurring around the world, the novel follows two characters and their journeys on opposing sides.  One, a French, blind, teenage girl, and the other a German teenage boy.  It is largely anecdotal in nature and includes mostly narrative and descriptive elements of writing.  By doing this, Doerr is able to focus on imagery and character development, as opposed to historical accuracy.  One fascinating aspect of the novel, however, is the characters’ point-of-view of the war as teenagers.  For example, Marie-Laure often feels alone because of her loss of sight, and then her father’s absence when he is held prisoner.  The teenage boy, Werner Pfenning, is an orphan, and is recruited by the Germans to track down the resistance, which he feels morally conflicted about and must go through alone.  The novel follows both characters as the war progresses and shows the struggles that they face when separated from their loved ones.

On the other hand, The Zookeeper’s Wife is anecdotal by nature, but remains focused primarily on historical accuracy.  The movie occurs largely between 1939 and 1944, but has one scene from post-war 1949.  The Zookeeper’s Wife follows the story of zookeepers Antonina and Jan Zabinski, who saved hundreds of people and animals during the German invasion.  It specifically focuses on one family, but the viewer is able to witness many different people and hear their stories as they pass through the Zabinski house on their way to safety.  Being a true story, the movie incorporates multiple graphic scenes, which sometimes distract from the purpose of the film.

 While both the novel and the film provide a civilian's perspective, they are still dramatically different.  The movie, for example, shows close-up the harsh realities of the German soldiers, whose cruelty had no limits, and the devastation they caused over a considerable period of time, while the novel focused on the characters and imagery of the time.  In The Zookeeper’s Wife, Lutz Heck (played by Daniel Bruhl), is a German zoologist who is exceptionally vicious, both towards humans and animals.  In one scene, he attempts to assault Antonina after refusing to help her locate her wounded husband.  Knowing that this is a true story makes it especially traumatic for the viewer, but halfway through the novel, All the Light We Cannot See still does not have any scenes that are especially brutal.  Most passages are filled with descriptive imagery, like when Doerr states, “Cold, sumptuous silk onto which the sea has laid offerings: pebbles, shells, barnacles.  Tiny slips of wrack” (Doerr 232).  This makes for an interesting novel, but doesn’t fully provide insight into different historical events during World War II.

After both watching the movie and reading the book, the reader is able to fully experience the different aspects of the war because of the various perspectives seen in each.  Doerr p­rovides an anecdotal­­­ account of the war, which allows the reader to experience the war as a typical civilian would have, while the film provides historical context.  Combined, the two perfectly contrast and support each other in a way that they would be unable to individually.