“To What Degree Can and Individual’s Choices and Actions Influence the Direction of His or Her Life?”

A person has complete power over the decisions he or she makes and the actions he or she takes. The type of decision made and action is taken has a significant impact on the overall outcome of a person's life. The book "All the Light We Cannot See" introduces thought-provoking situations in which various people's decisions and attitudes will affect the course of one's life. Werner Pfennig and Marie-Laure LeBlanc, the main actors, fail to make the best decisions and take the right steps in a variety of situations, resulting in significant consequences in some circumstances and bad outcomes in others. While the actions and choices that individuals make can influence the direction of their lives, other times one’s direction of life is merely as a result of the circumstances that he/she faces.

Sometimes, an individual makes a choice because he/she want to accomplish a greater good. In the novel, Werner is seen battling to make decisions and take actions that he feels will portray him as a loyal and good person. He wants to be seen as a nobleman, who is bent of carrying good deeds. In addition to that, he strives to appear loyal to the course; helping Germany in war. As the Doerr articulates, “Werner is succeeding. He is being loyal. He is being what everybody agrees is good” (Doerr, Anthony, 250). With that, Werner strives to be what the society wants him to be; and thus the direction his life takes is the one praised by the society. Other times, one is influenced by the circumstances to make decisions that negatively impacts their lives and that of others. Even though Werner is accomplished according to the eyes of the society, he feels that his actions and decisions are negatively affecting innocent people. The author says that “… and yet when he wakes and buttons his tunic, he feels he is betraying something” (Doerr, Anthony, 250). He feels that the choices he has made will curve his life in the wrong direction.

When an individual feels that his actions and choices in life may lead to destruction, he or she may decide to follow their intuition or advice from others to change them. As evidenced in the novel, Werner’s sister Jutta is critical of how Werner behaves and acts according to what the society wants, and not making choices that he thinks is right. She asks Werner, “is it right to do something only because everyone else is doing it?” (Doerr, Anthony, 133). Through reflection of his life and his contribution to the war, he feels that he is not doing the right thing. During much of his time, both in school and at the Nazis war front, he thinks hard on that question. Later on, we see that he decides to take action to move out of the war. He tells his sister, “Jutta… I finally listened” (Doerr, Anthony, 475). With this, his the direction of his life changes drastically, and he after meeting Marie-Laure, he defies the army orders and saves her. Had he not taken a chance to change his actions and choices, he would not have found Marie-Laure, and save her, and his life’s direction could completely be different.

Marie-Laure shows that without taking action and making daring choices, the direction of life cannot change to the desired level. While at Saint-Malo where the Germans have taken over, Madame Manec, Marie-Laure’s aunt felt that resisting the Nazis efforts would be very dangerous. However, Marie tells her that, “doing nothing is as good as collaborating” (Doerr, Anthony, 269). She makes her aunt realize that choosing to act, though in a dangerous scenario, is the right thing to do. They journey on with their quest and strive to end the barbaric actions of the Nazis. Without taking actions, their efforts would be meaningless, and their direction of life would point towards defeat.

While it may appear that actions and choices are the drivers to life, sometimes, people are merely victims of circumstance and their direction of life is based on their predicaments. In the novel, we notice that both Marie-Laure and Werner are victims of circumstance. The predicaments, as well as achievements that Marie-Laurie had gone through, were influenced by her blindness. While people think of her as brave, Marie-Laurie knows that her direction in life is because of what she has endured. She tells Warner “When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not bravery; I have no choice (Doerr, Anthony, 469).” Here, Marie-Laure clearly states that the direction of her life is just because of the circumstances that she can do nothing about. Even though she may be praised for her accomplishments, she knows that her being blind and going through heartaches were things she could do little to change. She says that “I wake up and live my life (Doerr, Anthony, 469).” On the same manner, Werner goes through the same scenarios. During his time in school, Fredrick, his friend tells him, “Your problem Werner is that you still believe you own tour life (Doerr, Anthony, 223).” This is to imply that as soon as they joined the school and the war, their choices and actions were controlled by circumstance and that Surgent Major von Rumpel dictated their direction in life.

Moreover, sometimes circumstances drastically change the course of one’s life with or without making any choice or taking any action. The main event - the Second World War - in the novel that greatly influences Marie-Laure’s and Werner’s life. Had the war not taken place, neither of them would have been in the situations that they were in at that instant. In the absence of war, Werner and Marie-Laurie may never have met. In addition to that, Werner may not have had a reason to kill Major von Rumpel. The circumstance necessitated his directions in life and in without the war, nothing as life changing as killing the Major may have happened.

In conclusion, Doerr manages to present instances where choices and actions shaped the lives the two characters; Marie-Laurie and Werner. Through acting in the situations they were in and making a drastic decision, the both characters changed their destinies and the paths they followed in life. As seen in the lives of Marie-Laurie and Werner, the impact of making choices and taking actions cannot be ignored, since, through them, an individual’s life is greatly influenced. However, sometimes, people find themselves in life-changing circumstances that they have no power over them. At such junctures, conditions control the action and choices, and one has to “go with the flow” following the direction that life takes. All in all, the actions and choices an individual makes greatly influences his or her outcomes in life.

























Work Cited

Doerr, Anthony. All The Light We Cannot See. 1st ed., New York, Scribner, 2014.