All The Light We Cannot See Analysis

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Nature vs. nurture, psychology as a science, deception to research participants. Among countless psychology debates, determinism vs. free will is a polarizing one. (HOOK: listing) Saul Mcleod’s article in Simply Psychology titled “Freewill and Determinism” describes these 2 camps, but also mentions the very apparent grey area. He describes it as soft determinism: a position in which “people do have a choice, but their behavior is always subject to some form of biological or environmental pressure”. In the book All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, every character seems to fit in this spectrum between believing their destiny is predetermined and believing they have the power to change it. Werner Pfennig, a German orphan who grows up …show more content…
Growing up in Zollverein, Werner begins by thinking there is only one set path for him; he will go to the mines, make steel for the german militia, and potentially die in a mining accident like his father. However, when Werner gets older, he starts to move across the spectrum as he actively tries to shape his future position through his actions. Once he starts listening to the radio, the simple change in mindset changes the trajectory of his life. He imagines a life beyond the gates and “himself as a tall white-coated engineer striding into a laboratory: cauldrons steam, machinery rumbles, complex charts paper the walls” (Doerr 54). What he envisions here is a clear example of self-actualization. One of the top levels in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. At this level, a person has reached their fullest unique potential. They can accept themselves and others what they are. Werner gets even closer to the free-will side of the spectrum in the coming years through his actions. As he takes The Principles of Mechanics book to the dinner with the vice minister at the Children’s House, Werner shows how he is shaping his own behavior by having the innate motivation to learn complex
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