Summary
The Nightingale follows two sisters during WWII as Germany invades France. After their mother's death, their father becomes distant and wants nothing to do with them. Vianne, heartbroken, finds solace in a young man named Antione with whom she marries and has her first child at the age of 16. Antione is her rock, and when Germany invades France, he is forced to go to war to save their country. Vianne and her daughter Sophie have no choice but to fend for themselves. After France's surrender, Carriveau and Paris fall under the Occupied Zone and are overrun with German soldiers. Vianne is forced to billet a soldier, and food becomes a scarce commodity.
The young and reckless Isabelle does not accept France's surrender and promises herself that she will fight. After being kicked out of boarding school and her own home, she is left behind at her sister's home in Carriveau. After foolishly drawing a v for victory on a Jewish propaganda poster, she is taken in by the underground system in Carriveau. She begins by secretly handing out rebellion fliers to the residents of the small town. When they need someone to deliver correspondence to and from Paris, she takes that job. Later, she takes a huge risk and begins saving Allied pilots by sneaking them across the Pyrenees mountains and into Spain.
The young and reckless Isabelle does not accept France's surrender and promises herself that she will fight. After being kicked out of boarding school and her own home, she is left behind at her sister's home in Carriveau. After foolishly drawing a v for victory on a Jewish propaganda poster, she is taken in by the underground system in Carriveau. She begins by secretly handing out rebellion fliers to the residents of the small town. When they need someone to deliver correspondence to and from Paris, she takes that job. Later, she takes a huge risk and begins saving Allied pilots by sneaking them across the Pyrenees mountains and into Spain.
Themes
War: The book is set in France in the 1940's. Vianne likes to pretend that everything is okay, and it isn't until her best friend's daughter is shot for nothing and her best friend is taken away that Vianne begins taking risks to save innocents in the war. Isabelle on the other hand, spends the whole book rebelling against the German invaders.
Sisters: Vianne and Isabelle look at the war very differently. Vianne has a daughter to protect and this forces her to be strong, but it also forces her to conform to the German invaders so that she doesn't draw attention to herself or her daughter. Isabelle on the other hand is only 18 and refuses to bow down. She spends the whole war finding ways that she can help the rebellion and ends up being one of the biggest assets the rebellion has. Although they have their differences, they love each other fiercely.
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Sacrifice: Vianne is forced to sacrifice herself for her daughter and Ari. When an unfriendly German soldier billets in her home, he blackmails her by telling her he will hurt her children if she doesn't give him exactly what he wants. He violently rapes her until the end of the war. When she finds out she is pregnant, she does not blame the baby.
Favorite Quote
"In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are"(1).
I loved this quote. The young men who went off to war to exterminate the Jews were followers. Isabelle and Vianne may have went about it in different ways, but neither one ever surrendered. They were both strong, and they both rebelled against the German soldiers.
Essay
The Nightingale was centered around two sisters to show that there are different ways to rebel, and they can be equally as effective.