Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
The vision we get of the Ukraine in this book is best summed up this way:"There are many dangerous people who want to take things without asking from Americans, but also kidnap them. Good night." [...
Narrator Point of View
The narration of Everything is Illuminated is all over the place. We have chapters written in first-person from the point of view of Alex, the Ukrainian translator. We have letters from A...
Writing Style
Here's a quote from Everything is Illuminated: We are writing… We are writing… We are writing… We are writing… We are writing… We are writing… We are writing… We are writing… We are...
What's Up With the Title?
The title of this book is almost a promise: Look, we know this book is a challenge, but just keep reading: everything will be illuminated. Alex goes through this exact thought process while he's re...
What's Up With the Ending?
This journey does not end up where we expect it to.At first, it feels like Jonathan Safran Foer is the main character. His name is on the cover, after all. Alex and his Grandfather are just Jonatha...
Tough-o-Meter
At first, Everything is Illuminated seems a lot more like Everything is Intimidating. The first chapter (and about half the book's total chapters) is narrated by Alex, who has a, shall we say, tenu...