Looking back in time, WWII was a world shaking destruction everywhere you look.
From land uninhabitable to families torn and burned apart in concentration death camps. Both Night and All The Light We Cannot See have common themes of power struggles and personal change within the main characters. From Elie’s faithful journey to Marie-Laure’s physical and psychological growth. Both books have complete 180’s in the way the main characters go about their daily lives in the wake of WWII.One constant and substanual theme in both books was the issues and ways of going about the power. Free will vs. fate is an example of this in All The Light We Cannot See because it shows how much power each person has to control their own destiny. During the war Marie-Laure and Werner feel as if they have no power to control their own life.
But in the end when they meet, they feel as if they were destined to meet. After their meeting both are stronger, less vulnerable and start taking action into their own hands. Something clicked in their heads saying “Oh, I can control my fate and what happens to me”. On page 270, Madame Manec ask Etienne “Don’t you want to be alive before you die?”. I think Werner and Marie were both feeling like they weren’t living and just going from day to day, but when they meet, they get a spark in them, the same way Madame Manec was trying to do with Etienne.
In Night the confinement of the Jewish people starts a step-by-step process, which strips away their identity, humanity and dignity. First, the Jews of Sighet are confined to their homes, then to ghettos, then to cattle cars for transport and eventually imprisoned behind the barbed wire and iron gates of concentration camps. With the increasing confinement, the Jews lose their possessions, their family members, their individuality and many lose their lives.
Best services for writing your paper according to Trustpilot
The also lose all the power they used to have over themselves before the camps. The hope of liberation from the concentration camps, either by the Allies or by God, is what keeps many of the imprisoned Jews going.
