Chapter Summary Of 'Everything Is Illumination'

Everything is Illuminated In the book Everything Is Illuminated is about a young Jewish-American writer who attempt to research his grandfather's life in Ukraine. Jonathan is attempting to find his grandfather's shtetl, Trachimbrod. He only has a map and a photograph of a woman named Augustine, who is said to have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Jonathan's guide on his trip is Alex, a young Ukrainian man. They are both twenty-one. Their driver is Alex's grandfather, who claims to be blind. Grandfather’s seeing-eye dog comes with them, the dog is called,Sammy Davis,Junior,Junior.The book is based on three basic narratives: chapters written by Jonathan, Alex, and Jonathan. Chapters written by Jonathan describe different events in his family's history in Trachimbrod. Chapters written by Alex describe Jonathan's present trip. Letters from Alex to Jonathan reveal the two characters' growing relationship as writers and friends. The characters have all grown, and discovered things about themselves throughout the book as Alex is also known as Shapka and Sasha, even though he doesn’t like it. He writes chapters for Jonathan’s books and he sends it to him. Alex has changed dramatically throughout the book, he at one
“Everyone knows that by bringing up his dead wife he is more blind”(Foer). As if the loneliness makes him not want to see the pain that he had ,“He can’t seem to find what is being illuminated in his life,Grandfather mainly does nothing but lament his actions” (Foer). He spends all his time after the trip crying and crying and in the end, he kills himself, telling Jonathan in his final letter that his suicide is not because he can not deal with the pain but is fulfilled with happiness, he "cannot endure"(Foer), but because he is "complete with happiness"(Foer), and ready to "open the door into darkness" (Foer). Perhaps after death, everything will be illuminated for