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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?
Randall Smith The rape scene was true in they occurred but it was to orderly and neat. These rapes were brutal and many women were injured and killed. He chose to h…moreThe rape scene was true in they occurred but it was to orderly and neat. These rapes were brutal and many women were injured and killed. He chose to have two of the rapists to be 17 year old boys. There were young men and they did rape. But they weren't just goofy kids out on a lark. These were crimes against humanity. Being raped as their first sexual experience would make it very hard to have a relationship the rest of their lives. Today these boy would be tried as adults and spend the rest of their lives behind bars. The real villain is the officer. It is his job to keep discipline and make sure things like this did not happen. He not only encouraged them he did it too. Supposedly he repeated the names of fallen comrades as he raped Jutta. That these men were thinking noble thoughts as they raped children is a lie. They raped their way across eastern Europe. They raped Hungarian, Chech, Yugoslav and Polish women. When they got to Germany they raped Jewish women. They reported to have told the rapist this woman is Jewish and he said "A woman is a woman. Has hole." Then they raped her anyway. They raped thousands of their own women prisoners who were sent to Germany as forced labor. These poor women frantically tried to hide because they came back again and again. They continued to rape them until Stalin finally sent them home with a stern warning not to say a word about what had happened to them. 2,000,000 rapes occurred in Germany but like they said if a woman was raped 20 or 30 times and they came back 5 times it was only counted as one incedent. The Soviet army was more like the Mongol Hordes or the Vikings plundering and raping wherever they went. Also they raped much younger children than these. I read one womans account. She was 4 years old when her and her sisters were raped. I also read a diary of a Russian officer who happened upon a small child and her mother. They were terrified because she had been raped 20 times by Russian soldiers and was afraid they would come back. The Nazis did terrible things but it did not justify what the Soviets did. They should and i'm sure are burning in hell for raping these women and espescially the children.(less)
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All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr (Goodreads Author)
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