In this post I will cover what in my opinion, is the presented idea of the work as a whole. It will be a little rough considering my confusion of the novel, but I will try my best.
Recognition, in my eyes is an incredibly important theme within the novel. This theme is not necessarily on the "I see you standing there" level, but more of a "I see you standing there and I see what's in your heart" kind of level. This idea is mostly confirmed by our character Leo, as he would say "All I wanted was to not die on a day that I went unseen."(4), this quote seems to linger throughout our reading, here is where the reader gets the initial theme and throughout the novel it is embedded in the reader further. There are a million instance in the novel where Leo is constantly pushing to be seen, performing to be seen, he is painted, just to be seen. Throughout the novel it is not necessarily identified what his reason is, but the reader knows that a cause is that of World War II. In this war he had to do everything to avoid being seen, he had to go unnoticed, and this made it extremely hard for him to want to continue. Leo wanted people to see him so he was not left alone, so that he would never have to relive that part of his live again.
I know that to some, this theme seems so unconventional, but the idea that going unseen will kill you, that the last time you went unseen your entire people disappeared, that idea would drive you away from writing, away from love, and away from anything that could resemble these things. Throughout the novel our main character has been majorly influenced by going unseen, his importance of being seen, although not nearly as openly admitted as other themes by Krauss, is to me, an incredibly valuable one. This theme of recognition is more than just knowing who you see, but realizing that who you see is more than just them. This idea holds true throughout and is a major aspect to the view between the lines that we, the readers can see.
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