Throughout history, there have been many contemporary historical accounts of male historical figures; however there is a noticeable lack of accounts of historical women, even those who provided crucial services to their countries. In different cultures and historical eras there were separate schemas of values embedded in society, and many of these values dictated the ways in which women were supposed to act and even think. While the book All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr documents the life of Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a French girl, during WW2, and Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks is about a widow named Anna Frith living in a plague-stricken English village in 1666, but the books share a key similarity; they both explore the way people
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The book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne is a prevalent symbol which often appears throughout the book which represents Marie-Laure’s strength. Often told that she was ‘brave’ and treated with extreme delicacy and patronisation, Marie-Laure said, “When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not bravery; I have no choice” (Doerr 2014, p. 469). Doerr uses epistrophe to accentuate how people tried to humour Marie-Laure but were actually trivializing her experiences, and she often looked to the characters of the book as an escape, finding inspiration from their adventures whereas Marie-Laure was treated like a little girl even into her adolescence. As the war continued, Marie-Laure’s journey is often linked to that of the characters in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and the book symbolises Marie-Laure’s perseverance throughout the ordeal. Radios were also a frequently used motif in the novel, being an important object for Werner’s sister Jutta during her childhood, as she and her brother often listened to Etienne’s brother’s broadcasts together as children. Both Werner and Jutta were interested in the scientific theme of the broadcasts; as the narrator says, “Jutta likes one on magnets” (Doerr 2014, p. 359), however whereas Werner’s scientific prowess was encouraged and eventually got him into the Nazi school Schulpforta, Jutta’s interest in learning and talent in drawing was largely ignored, as Jutta was grouped together with the other girls in the orphanage who were not seen as worthy of education as the boys were. Akin to Anys’ dress in Year of Wonders, the importance of listening to the radio broadcasts to Jutta represents
The book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne is a prevalent symbol which often appears throughout the book which represents Marie-Laure’s strength. Often told that she was ‘brave’ and treated with extreme delicacy and patronisation, Marie-Laure said, “When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not bravery; I have no choice” (Doerr 2014, p. 469). Doerr uses epistrophe to accentuate how people tried to humour Marie-Laure but were actually trivializing her experiences, and she often looked to the characters of the book as an escape, finding inspiration from their adventures whereas Marie-Laure was treated like a little girl even into her adolescence. As the war continued, Marie-Laure’s journey is often linked to that of the characters in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and the book symbolises Marie-Laure’s perseverance throughout the ordeal. Radios were also a frequently used motif in the novel, being an important object for Werner’s sister Jutta during her childhood, as she and her brother often listened to Etienne’s brother’s broadcasts together as children. Both Werner and Jutta were interested in the scientific theme of the broadcasts; as the narrator says, “Jutta likes one on magnets” (Doerr 2014, p. 359), however whereas Werner’s scientific prowess was encouraged and eventually got him into the Nazi school Schulpforta, Jutta’s interest in learning and talent in drawing was largely ignored, as Jutta was grouped together with the other girls in the orphanage who were not seen as worthy of education as the boys were. Akin to Anys’ dress in Year of Wonders, the importance of listening to the radio broadcasts to Jutta represents