says the führer has collected scientists to help him control the weather. He says the führer will develop a rocket that can reach Japan. He says the
führer will build a city on the moon.
Doerr, 2014: 162
It tells the power and brilliance of Dr. Hauptmann and his fellows. It is said
that Dr. Hauptmann is capable of controlling weather, developing a rocket that can reach Japan, and even build a city on the moon. He is depicted as a powerful figure
that can influence and change not only people, but also the nature. He is depicted as a strong scholar needed by his country. This is shown through his connection to
powerful ministers and being needed in the school where brilliant young boys across the country flocked together to be prepared as soldiers to serve for his nation. This
narration is actually a contrast to the narration of Marie Laure. Despite the fact that eventually she achieved a phenomenal achievement by becoming a doctoral student
aside from her disability, she is also continually shadowed by the presence of Dr. Geffard as a male figure of influence who initially lets her know the world of mollusk
and biology. The impression is as if it is uncertain for Marie Laure to get acquaintance to the world of mollusk if Dr. Geffard was not there in her early life.
Moreover, it is also narrated that it is because of the benevolence of the museum’s
director that she is able to study. The concluding impression is then her achievements are always narrated as dependent to male figures. There is no narration in the novel
which supports the struggle of Marie Laure by showing her independency. There are no strong and independent female figures in the story.
There is also an example of how power is manifested through the male characters of the novel. This paragraph below is
the narration of Frederick’s
durability aside himself being tortured. At some point the beating stops. Frederick is facedown in the snow.
“Sir?” says Rödel, panting. Bastian takes back the length of hose from Rödel and drapes it around his neck and reaches underneath his belly to hitch
up his belt. Werner kneels beside Frederick and turns him onto his side. Blood is running from his nose or eye or ear, maybe all three. One of his
eyes is already swollen shut; the other remains open. His attention, Werner realizes, is on the sky. Tracing something up there. Doerr, 2014: 195
The paragraph tells the painful story of Frederick as getting beaten by his colleague under the order of his instructor, Bastian. Frederick is depicted as bleeding
from his nose, eye and ear. However, he is depicted as not complaining. With one of his eyes swollen shut, he manages to see the sky and trace something up there. It is
unclear what is being seen by him in the narration. Yet, this paragraph shows the strength and durability of Frederick as a boy. He is strong for accepting the pain he
has to resist. He is durable for letting the pain flow in him and continually endures it.
2. Bravery
The opposite of fear is bravery. Males are always associated as brave figures while females are commonly associated as less brave than them. This stereotype is
continually narrated from generation to generation. Bravery is an essential part to the construction of men. When bravery is the absence of fear, it means to be brave
someone must strip away their fear. Munteanu 2012: 19 states that seeing fear as a negative quality is common in western cultures. This view is actually also valid in
many cultures outside western cultures as well. Fear is regarded as something which is not constructive, while bravery is regarded as a constructive force which is better
for the continuity of a human ’s life.
Male figures in Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See are narrated as brave men. In the time of war, male figures in this novel are narrated as courageous
individuals who have a determination to take a risk. They are narrated as people who do not fear to die, to fight, to lose, to get pain, to resist, to get threat and to face
uncertainty. These narrations are very different from the narration of women in the novel. Women or the female figures are prone to fear in the novel.
This narration below is an example of bravery embedded in the male figures. It is the narration of Werner and other soldiers during the time of which they are
having a frontal attack in the war. Werner can hear the Austrians two floors up scrambling, reloading, and
the receding screams of both shells as they hurtle above the ocean, already two or three miles away. One of the soldiers, he realizes, is singing. Or
maybe it is more than one. Maybe they are all singing. Eight Luftwaffe men, none of whom will survive the hour, singing a love song to their
queen. Doerr, 2014: 8
This paragraph shows the bravery of Werner and the Austrians in facing the allies. Both of them are depicted as having bravery to fight their enemy. They are also
depicted as having no fear to die. They do not afraid of the pain of getting shot by the enemy. This is narrated through Werner’s calm state aside from the screaming shells
and the gestures made by the Austrian for singing during the assault. It is also narrated that none of those singing soldiers survive the hour later. It means those
people who sing a song will die an hour after that, but they do not feel afraid of dying.
Another example of bravery can also be found in the letter made by Werner
for her sister Jutta below. To My Dear Sister Jutta
— Today in field exercises the commandant told us
about Reiner Schicker . He was a young corporal and his captain needed
someone to go behind enemy lines to map their defenses. The captain asked for volunteers and Reiner Schicker was the only one who stood up.
But the next day Reiner Schicker got caught. The very next day The Poles captured
him and tortured him with electricity. They gave him so much electricity that his brain liquefied, said the commandant, but before they did, Reiner Schicker
said something amazing.
He said, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” Doerr, 2014: 162
The point of the narration above is Werner managed to tell Jutta that there is a man named Reiner Schicker who sacrifices himself for his country. He is depicted
very brave among his fellows. He stands up and offers to volunteer for the mission given by his country. He does not afraid when he is eventually captured and
electrified. He disregards the pain he has to endure by stating that he only regrets for having one life to lose for his country. This means he is also ready to die more than
once for his country if it is possible. He is narrated as somebody who does not afraid to die. Reiner Schicker, then, is indirectly depicted as the hero for all the people of his
country. There is also a depiction of bravery from the male figures to resist from
oppression even though it should cost painful things for them. This narration below
tells the resistance of Frederick to rebel from Bastian. Bastian is narrated dictating the
cadets to address to spot the weakest person among them.
“It usually does not take so long,” says Bastian mildly, almost as if to himself. “For the first to be caught.” Frederick squints at the sky. Bastian says, “Cadet,
are you the weakest?” “I don‟t know, sir.” “You don‟t know?” A pause. Into Bastian‟s face flows an undercurrent of antagonism. “Look at me
when you speak.” “Some people are weak in some ways, sir. Others in other ways.” The commadant’s lips thin and his eyes narrow and an
expression of slow and intense malice rises in his face. As though a cloud has drifted away and for a moment Bastian’s true, deformed character has come
glaring through. He pulls the hose from around his neck and hands it to Rödel. Rödel blinks up at his bulk. “Go on, then,” prods Bastian. In some other
context, he might be encouraging a reluctant boy to step into cold water.
“Do him some good.” Rödel looks down at the hose: black, three feet long, stiff
in the cold. Doerr, 2014: 193
There is a running competition among the cadets. The one who got the longest time to pass the track must be chased by the rest of the cadets. This person is narrated
as the weakest among the group. In this paragraph, Frederick is depicted as unlucky because he is running slower than what he usually does. Consequently then, he is
asked by Bastian to point out who the weakest cadet is. This question is rhetorical since the weakest are previously narrated in the story as the one who runs in the
longest time. Frederick resists Bastian by saying he does not know who the weakest is. He disagrees with Bastian on judging people as weak by using only one standard.
He answers by saying that some people are weak in some ways while others are weak in the other ways. Frederick must know the consequence of his action that he will be
punished for rebelling against his commandant. This action reflects the phenomenal bravery of Frederick. In military, it is prohibited to oppose order from somebody who
