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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?
Jay I think the key part of this awful scene is when the author mentions that the Russian keeps repeating the names of his friends probably killed by Germ…moreI think the key part of this awful scene is when the author mentions that the Russian keeps repeating the names of his friends probably killed by Germans, so the way I see it the Russian men didn't do it for their pleasure but to avenge their friends as a sort of irrational retaliation of cruelty. If you remember a couple chapters before, Werner describes how the Nazis would torture the Russian prisoners by making them strip and freeze to death and all that other stuff. It just adds to the whole "German guilt" thing that you see Jutta thinking about when she goes to St. Malo and is afraid people will attack her if they find out she's German. It's just another reminder of how messed up the war was on all levels.(less)
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All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr (Goodreads Author)
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