Hi, Marie-Laure not getting cataract surgery also bothered me. However, I am not sure you got the correct information from your ophthalmologist. While it is true that cataract surgery has poor outcomes when performed after the age of ten, this is in the case of children who are born blind or go blind very early from cataracts. This is because their brains do not develop to interpret vision. However, Marie-Laure goes blind at age six. It would be much more likely, therefore, that she would be able to see following cataract surgery. Didn't realize how much this bugged me until I saw not many people were talking about it.
Very interesting! Thank you for clarifying that. (And now I'll feel free to let that plot point continue to nag at me.) The only possible reasons to not have the surgery, then, would be 1. she was too poor, or 2. she had a personal opposition to it (in the way that some deaf people choose not to get cochlear implants). But if I recall correctly, Marie and her uncle traveled in the years after the war, fulfilling a promise to themselves, which means they weren't destitute. And if Doerr wanted to imply #2, he could have snuck that feeling into Marie's thoughts somewhere, or reflected on it in her 1980s stroll with her grandson.
Hi, excellent review!
I'm writing an essay on this novel, on the topic of bravery.
Do you have any points that shows the bravery from Marie-Laure, Werner and Etienne?
Thank you :)
Oh my gosh, great topic--there were so many wonderful instances of bravery! And even moments of poignant failed bravery (like when Werner doesn't/can't defend his friend Frederick when he's nearly beaten to death at the school [ironically for bravely refusing to participate in the murder of an enemy prisoner]). I don't have time to flip through my book (or my memory) to look for them, but I notice that the CliffsNotes for this novel are free online, and maybe if you zip through the outline you'll recall examples that appeal to you. Good luck with your essay! https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/all-the-light-we-cannot-see/about-all-the-light-we-cannot-see
I'm writing an essay on this novel, on the topic of bravery.
Do you have any points that shows the bravery from Marie-Laure, Werner and Etienne?
Thank you :)