Phil 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?

Phil It felt really gratuitous to me. It doesn't add anything to the plot and we didn't need it to underline the horrors of war - that had already been don…moreIt felt really gratuitous to me. It doesn't add anything to the plot and we didn't need it to underline the horrors of war - that had already been done very effectively. It also felt very unrealistic - the way they were just told to 'stay calm and close your eyes' as if it were no more unpleasant than a trip to the dentist. And once it's over - that's it. Like it didn't have any impact on their lives at all.

I also found the way it was described felt like the author was trying to minimise the guilt of the rapists - so we have two young boys, barely out of childhood, and an officer who rapes young girls as a kind of 'memorial' to dead comrades? Sick!

I don't have an issue with an author writing about rape if the story needs it to happen, as long as it is handled sensitively. But this felt tacked on to the story. And it also minimised the impact of rape on the victims. It left a nasty taste in the mouth.(less)

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All the Light We Cannot See

by Anthony Doerr (Goodreads Author)

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