All the Light We Can See (2020) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

All the Light We Can See unfolds across three distinct locations that span both sides of the war. Paris represents Marie-Laure's early childhood, the fortified coastal town of Saint-Malo in Brittany becomes the center of the French resistance storyline, and Zollverein in Germany serves as the industrial backdrop for Werner's origins. The geographic split between occupied France and Nazi Germany is essential to the story's structure.

• Paris
• Saint-Malo
• Zollverein
• France
• Germany
• locations
• setting

The narrative spans roughly eight decades, from 1934 to 2014. The heart of the story takes place during World War II in the 1940s, when Nazi Germany's expansion and the occupation of France created the central conflict. The 2014 endpoint serves as an epilogue that reflects on the long-lasting effects of war and how the passage of time reshapes memory.

• 1934
• 2014
• WWII
• World War II
• time period
• era

World War II is not just a backdrop but the defining force that determines every major choice in the story. The Nazi occupation of France creates the conditions for resistance work, moral compromise, and personal sacrifice, while the machinery of total war imposes constant physical danger through bombings and the siege of Saint-Malo. The war also forces young characters like Werner into roles that test their conscience and reshape their identities.

• WWII
• Nazi occupation
• France
• resistance
• war
• conflict

Saint-Malo is a fortified coastal town in Brittany with deep ties to maritime trade and a significant wartime history. In All the Light We Can See, it functions as the central setting for Marie-Laure's storyline and the resistance activities led by Etienne and Madame Manec. Its old-town fortifications make it both a refuge for hiding from the occupiers and a target during the climactic siege that drives the story toward its emotional peak.

• Saint-Malo
• coastal town
• fortified
• Brittany
• France
• siege

Zollverein is a former coal-mining industrial area in Germany recognized for its industrial heritage. In the story, it represents Werner's origins and the working-class environment where his talent for radio technology first emerged. The contrast between this industrial German setting and the occupied French coast highlights how the same war touches young lives very differently depending on which side of the line they were born.

• Zollverein
• Germany
• coal mining
• industrial
• working class

The story defines resilience as the ability to adapt and find meaning despite circumstances designed to break a person. Her adaptation to blindness and her courage in occupied Saint-Malo show that resilience is not the absence of struggle but the capacity to keep moving forward through it. Werner's arc reflects a related form of resilience, holding onto his moral core even as the Nazi system tries to erode it.

• resilience
• Marie-Laure
• Werner
• adaptation
• survival
• courage

Sacrifice in this story is the willingness to risk safety, comfort, or life for a cause larger than oneself. Marie-Laure risks everything to protect the Sea of Flames diamond, while figures like Madame Manec and Etienne devote themselves to the resistance at great personal cost. The narrative frames these sacrifices as responses to love and duty, suggesting that meaningful sacrifice is inseparable from the bonds that make life worth protecting.

• sacrifice
• resistance
• Sea of Flames
• Madame Manec
• duty
• love

Connection operates on two levels: through the radio technology that bridges distance and through the emotional bonds that form between people separated by war. Marie-Laure's broadcasts become a lifeline for listeners in despair, demonstrating how reaching out can establish meaningful ties even between strangers. The theme suggests that human connection can survive and even strengthen through the chaos of total war.

• connection
• radio
• broadcast
• lifeline
• bonds
• communication

Marie-Laure LeBlanc is a blind French girl whose spirit and resourcefulness define her. Equipped by her supportive father with the skills to navigate the world through touch and sound, she develops exceptional spatial awareness and courage. In occupied Saint-Malo, she participates in the resistance while protecting a precious secret, and her character arc is driven by inner strength, compassion, and a refusal to be defined by either her disability or the war around her.

• Marie-Laure LeBlanc
• blind girl
• French
• resistance
• Saint-Malo

Werner Pfennig is a gifted young German whose talent for radio technology sets him on a dangerous path. Drawn into service for the Nazi regime because of his skills, he becomes increasingly disillusioned as he witnesses the moral cost of the system he works within. His character traces an arc from a curious boy in the mining town of Zollverein to a soldier seeking redemption amid the horrors he encounters.

• Werner Pfennig
• radio
• German
• soldier
• Nazi
• redemption

Etienne LeBlanc is Marie-Laure's great-uncle, a reclusive veteran haunted by experiences from an earlier conflict. Living in Saint-Malo with a history of withdrawal and grief, he gradually becomes a guardian figure for Marie-Laure and joins the resistance alongside her. His compassion, quiet courage, and willingness to step back into the world despite his own trauma make him a stabilizing presence in the story.

• Etienne LeBlanc
• great-uncle
• veteran
• reclusive
• guardian
• resistance

Sergeant Major Reinhold von Rumpel is a Nazi gemologist whose obsession drives his role as an antagonist. Suffering from an incurable illness, he becomes convinced that the legendary Sea of Flames diamond holds miraculous powers, and he will stop at nothing to obtain it. His character embodies both personal desperation and the broader moral decay of the regime, representing the oppressive forces that seek to control and exploit others.

• von Rumpel
• gemologist
• Nazi
• Sea of Flames
• illness
• antagonist

Marie-Laure and Werner are two young people on opposite sides of the war whose lives unfold in parallel without ever truly meeting face to face for most of the story. Their connection forms through radio signals, with Werner's military work eventually crossing paths with Marie-Laure's broadcasts from Saint-Malo. Their intertwined fates represent how war can bind strangers together across enemy lines, creating bonds that transcend national allegiance.

• Marie-Laure
• Werner
• parallel lives
• radio connection
• relationship