Summary Marie-Laure is now an old woman. At a park with her grandson, Michel, she watches as he plays a computer game in which he “dies,” but he tells her that that’s alright because he can always “begin again.” Michel, who will soon turn 12, asks Marie-Laure what she wanted […]
Read more Summary and Analysis PART THIRTEEN: 2014Summary and Analysis PART TWELVE: 1974
Summary Years later, Volkheimer receives a letter from an organization trying to return dead soldiers’ belongings to next of kin: The organization has found Werner’s belongings, including a wooden model of a house. Volkheimer delivers the items to Jutta and tells her of his final memories of Werner, including his […]
Read more Summary and Analysis PART TWELVE: 1974Summary and Analysis PART ELEVEN: 1945
Summary Frau Elena, Jutta, and three other girls from the children’s home are sent to a machine parts factory in Berlin. Jutta has received letters telling her that Werner is dead. Life is grim in Berlin; the Germans know they are losing the war and that the Russians are close […]
Read more Summary and Analysis PART ELEVEN: 1945Summary and Analysis PART TEN: 12 August 1944 “Comrades” to “Light”
Analysis Werner’s conversation with Marie-Laure just after he rescues her is critical to the novel’s portrayal of the tension between free will and predetermination. Werner calls Marie-Laure brave. She answers that she is not brave: “I wake up and live my life.” When she asks Werner if he doesn’t do […]
Read more Summary and Analysis PART TEN: 12 August 1944 “Comrades” to “Light”Summary and Analysis PART TEN: 12 August 1944 “Entombed” to “Wardrobe”
Analysis Etienne’s reflections while he is imprisoned inside Fort National speak to the horror of war. He remembers how in WWI he knew artillerymen who could tell by the color of a shell’s impact whether they had hit stone, soil, or human flesh. War reduces humanity to a color of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis PART TEN: 12 August 1944 “Entombed” to “Wardrobe”Summary and Analysis PART NINE: May 1944 “Nothing” to “Leaflets”
Analysis The novel’s most obvious example of worlds within worlds is the model of Etienne’s house carved by Marie-Laure’s father. Her father’s mysterious words, “Look inside Etienne’s house, inside the house,” call attention to this worlds-within-worlds theme. By reflecting on these words and on her conversation with von Rumpel, Marie-Laure […]
Read more Summary and Analysis PART NINE: May 1944 “Nothing” to “Leaflets”Summary and Analysis PART NINE: May 1944 “Edge of the World” to “Agoraphobia”
Analysis The arrival of Allied troops that Madame Ruelle refers to likely is D-Day, June 6, 1944; in her conversation with Marie-Laure that occurs during the final days of May 1944, she notes the Allies will arrive “Within the week.” Her coded statement that “the mermaids have bleached hair” appears […]
Read more Summary and Analysis PART NINE: May 1944 “Edge of the World” to “Agoraphobia”Summary and Analysis PART EIGHT: 9 August 1944
Summary Allied artillery begins shelling Saint-Malo again. Marie-Laure uses the explosions to disguise her own noise as she opens a can of food. Von Rumpel, who is becoming delirious from his illness, goes downstairs to search the house one more time, and Marie-Laure emerges from the attic to get water. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis PART EIGHT: 9 August 1944Summary and Analysis PART SEVEN: August 1942 “Fever” to “Telegram”
Analysis When Etienne and Marie-Laure discover that their intelligence has caused the deaths of German soldiers, they wrestle with the ethical implications of their actions. Etienne tells Marie-Laure about the lives that were lost during WWI, implying that every death is a tragedy regardless of nationality. He concludes, “These numbers, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis PART SEVEN: August 1942 “Fever” to “Telegram”Summary and Analysis PART SEVEN: August 1942 “Sunflowers” to “Gray”
Analysis In “Sunflowers,” Werner is directly responsible for his first killings. Performing the calculations that will lead to these killings, he thinks to himself, “Only numbers. Pure math.” Werner uses this lie to cope, but these words now seem hollow and false to him. “Everything has led to this,” he […]
Read more Summary and Analysis PART SEVEN: August 1942 “Sunflowers” to “Gray”