Everything is Illuminated, Lesson 2

Everything is Illuminated: Lesson 2

1. The sections entitled “Falling in Love” (“Falling in Love, 1791-1796” p 43-49 and “Falling in Love, 1791-1803” p 75-85) describe Yankel and his daughter’s love for one another. Describe each of these characters and their expressions of love. What themes emerge out of these sections?

2. When Alex writes about Jonathan’s corrections to his part of the story in “An Overture to Encountering the Hero, and then Encountering the Hero” (p 26-34), he comments: “I know that you asked me not to alter the mistakes becomes they sound humorous, and humorous is the only way to tell a sad story, but I think I will alter them. Please do not hate me. I did fashion all of the other corrections you commanded. I inserted what you ordered me to in the part about when I first encountered you … As you commanded, I removed the sentence “He was severely short,” and inserted in its place, “Like me, he was not tall.” And after the sentence “Oh, Grandfather said, and I perceived that he was still departing from a dream,” I added, as you commanded, “About grandmother” (53).

Why do you think that Jonathan has asked Alex to make (or not make) these types of corrections? How would you describe the humor in the novel? How does it relate to tragedy? What are your feelings about using humor in a novel that deals with the Holocaust?

3. When writing about the section that he is sending to Jonathan entitled “Going Forth to Lutsk,” Alex comments “I also invented things that I thought would appease you, funny things and sad things” (54). What things do you think have been invented in this section?

4. Look at the Alex’s comments to Jonathan about being a writer on page 69. How does each character think about the role of the writer? What kind of role of the writer is Foer suggesting in his text?