Anastacia answers “[Spoiler Alert] Why do you think the...”

Genetta asked this question about All the Light We Cannot See:

[Spoiler Alert] Why do you think the author decided to add the rape scene? Does it add anything to the characters' arcs? Does it propel the plot forward? Does anything result from that scene? Frau Elena, Jutta, and the other three girls were already obviously miserable. The reader has already experienced the cruelty of war. Why was the rape scene necessary?

Anastacia I was NOT okay with this scene at all. I thought it was terribly done and completely tone deaf to a woman’s experience of rape. And because of that, q…moreI was NOT okay with this scene at all. I thought it was terribly done and completely tone deaf to a woman’s experience of rape. And because of that, quite honestly, it felt gratuitous and grotesque...possibly even voyeuristic. While reading it—nauseated—I just kept repeating firmly and out loud NO through the entire scene because I found it emotionally vague and inaccurate as a vehicle for conveying the women’s experiences.(less)

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All the Light We Cannot See

by Anthony Doerr (Goodreads Author)

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