Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

The townsfolk can’t find Trachim, but a newborn girl floats to the river’s surface. A man named Trachim flipped his wagon into the river and the flotsam are his possessions. Two girls from the shtetl see household items floating in the river Brod while playing. The novel switches to Jonathan’s narration of Trachimbrod’s history. In addition, they bring Grandfather’s dog, Sammy Davis Jr. Alex will serve as his translator and Grandfather as the driver. They are on their way to pick up Jonathan Safran Foer, a Jewish American who has come to Ukraine to explore his family’s history. Interspersed with these stories are letters from Alex to Jonathan, written after their trip together.Īs the novel opens, Alex and his Grandfather work for Alex’s father’s tourism company. Another story, by a character named Alex, retells his, Jonathan’s, and his grandfather’s present-day quest to find Trachimbrod and a woman named Augustine.

One thread, written by a character named Jonathan Safran Foer, is a fictional history of Trachimbrod, a village that was destroyed by the Nazis in 1942. In addition, the source material reproduces offensive terms and stereotypes for Jewish people, Black people, and Romani people throughout, which are replicated in this guide only in direct quotation.Įverything is Illuminated is told through multiple narratives. To avoid confusion, this guide retains the anglicized spellings of Ukrainian city names reflected in the source text, including: Kiev instead of Kyiv, Odessa instead of Odesa, and Lvov instead of Lviv.Ĭontent Warning: The source material contains descriptions of physical abuse, sexual assault, murder, and genocide. This study guide refers to the eBook edition, published by First Mariner Books in 2015.

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer