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Microblog #3 - All the Light We Cannot See

How does this shape meaning and influence understanding?

“A thick red carpet sucks at the soles of Werner’s brogues; electric bulbs burn in a chandelier above the table; roses twine across the wallpaper.  A fire smolders in the fireplace.  On all four walls hang framed tintypes of glowering ancestors” (Doerr 81).

While reading this passage in, All the Light We Cannot See, the use of the phrase, “sucks at the soles” initially captivated me.  Not only was this an excellent use of personification, but it is also symbolic of what is morally happening to Werner while attending the German academy.  The cruelty of his instructors has made him incredibly depressed, and is therefore “sucking his soul out”.  Whether Doerr made this reference to the popular phrase on purpose or not, the following imagery in the rest of the passage instills the idea of an intimidating environment.  The fire smoldering in the fireplace, the German ancestors hanging above him, and the electric bulbs in the chandelier all point to an aggressive or dominant room, which shapes the reader’s understanding of Werner’s true feelings about the Germans.  He’s almost to the point of being terrified of them, but he still feels a duty to his country.  This duty to his country is especially exemplified through his constant dismissal of his own feelings.  While he has never specifically said this, he often describes the cruelty of soldiers, and how he avoids his peers at all costs.  All of this shapes meaning and influences understanding by revealing Werner’s true thoughts.

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