In All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr utilizes a nerve-racking tone to set the scene for the Allied bombing of Saint-Malo in his initial section of the novel, "Zero." First, Doerr foreshadows the destruction of the city as the narrator vividly describes its appearance from the perspective of the bombardiers. During the night, twelve airplanes, named after songs, glide across the Channel towards France. They fly past the corpses of ruined ships and crazed sheep running zig zags across the rocky islands. As the bombardiers approach their destination, "the walled city on its granite headland, drawing ever closer, looks like an unholy tooth, something black and dangerous, a final abscess to be lanced away" (Doerr 4). The comparison of the city to an 'unholy tooth' demonstrates the grim reputation that Saint-Malo possesses. Through Doerr's further metaphor, 'a final abscess to be lanced away,' a sense of inevitable destruction emerges, painting a gloomy mood.
Furthermore, as the bombing of Saint-Malo approaches, the author raises tension as he depicts a blind French girl left home alone. Leaflets fly through the city, warning the civilians of the impending bombing. By herself in her apartment, Marie-Laure LeBlanc struggles to comprehend the situation. She fingers the scrap of paper blown in through the window while "every second the airplanes draw closer; [and] every second is a second lost. She should be rushing downstairs. She should be making for the corner of the kitchen where a little trapdoor opens into a cellar full of dust…" (12). The mention of airplanes drawing closer creates a sense of impending danger, foreshadowing future events in the narrative. The anaphora of 'every second' and 'she should' draws attention to imminent bombing: the inclusion of the diacope 'second' emphasizes the fleeting time and the urgency of her situation.
Finally, the author paints a mood of disbelief amongst the citizenry of Saint-Malo as the bombing approaches. Having received warning, people, including the "spinsters, prostitutes, men over sixty [panic]. Procrastinators, collaborators, disbelievers, drunks. Nuns of every order. The poor. The stubborn. The blind" (10). All of them overflow onto the streets. Doerr utilizes rhetorical listing to overwhelm the audience and generate tension; the use of asyndeton further builds upon the sense of anxiety. The inclusion of 'the blind' in Doerr's list of frightened individuals demonstrates that people were oblivious to the bombing of Saint-Malo. Through numerous literary devices, Doerr establishes an ominous tone, foreshadowing the Allied bombing of Saint-Malo.