Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Nightingale, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Morality and Impossible Choices
Antisemitism and Active Resistance
Gender Roles
Love and War
Summary
Analysis
Winter is on its way, and food is already scarce. Vianne does what she can to prepare the few resources she has for the upcoming winter season. She plants as much food as she can and creates an enclosure where her chickens can live. As she performs this work, she thinks about Antoine. She wonders whether he is a prisoner of war, and, if so, how he is being treated.
Vianne knows that winter will make her present hardships even worse. She would do anything to get Antoine home so that he could help guide her through such difficult times.
Themes
A short while later, as Vianne and Sophie are walking home from school, they spot Isabelle in an alley. Vianne thinks Isabelle looks suspicious and worries about what she is up to. She knows that Isabelle has been sneaking out of the house at odd hours and thinks it is because she is trying to meet up with a boy. When Sophie sees Isabelle, she runs up to her to say hello. As she does so, she puts her hand on the basket Isabelle is carrying. Without thinking, Isabelle’s slaps Sophie’s hand away so that she doesn’t open the basket. Isabelle’s actions shock both Vianne and Sophie. Realizing what she’s done, Isabelle quickly apologizes.
Although Vianne does not trust her sister, she never imagines just how rebellious Isabelle actually is. Instead, she assumes Isabelle is caught up with typical teenage concerns. Based on Isabelle’s reaction to Sophie, Vianne’s suspicion that something is up with Isabelle only grows. Presumably, Isabelle has more pamphlets in the basket and doesn’t want Sophie to see.
Themes
Together, Isabelle, Sophie, and Vianne walk through town. As they do so, Vianne tries not to think about how much Carriveau has changed for the worse. While in town, they run into Beck, who tells Vianne that he won’t be around for dinner. Vianne feels the eyes of her countrymen on her as she speaks to Beck. She is ashamed of the disapproval she knows she is receiving. However, Beck does provide her with some useful, albeit depressing, information. He gives Vianne a list of the prisoners of war from Carriveau, along with some postcards. Unfortunately, Antoine’s name is on the list.
Vianne once again finds herself in a difficult position. She doesn’t want to feel like she is betraying France, but she also knows she must treat Beck respectfully. However, the townsfolk are not entirely wrong. They assume that Vianne is getting something out of her cozy relationship to Beck, and they are correct. Vianne’s kindness pays off as she finally learns Antoine’s fate. Unfortunately, he will not be coming home, which means winter will be that much more difficult for Vianne, Isabelle, and Sophie.
Themes
Isabelle knows how much this information upsets Vianne, and she does her best to comfort her older sister. Vianne tells Isabelle that she hates being on her own and doesn’t know if she can survive. In response, Isabelle reminds Vianne that the two of them have been on their own since their mother’s death. However, while that may be true for Isabelle, it is not true for Vianne. Vianne met Antoine when she was 14 and has had him by her side ever since. Isabelle tells Vianne that despite Antoine’s absence, she must be strong for Sophie’s safe.
Vianne’s reliance on Antoine from a young age means she is thoroughly unprepared for the difficulties she now faces. Meanwhile, Isabelle has been more or less on her own for a long time, which explains why she acts so independently. Essentially, the two sisters are on the opposite ends of a spectrum: one is too self-reliant, while the other isn’t self-reliant enough.
Themes
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After Vianne gathers herself, she goes to Rachel’s house with the list of names. Unfortunately, Rachel’s husband is also on the list, and although Vianne doesn’t want to be the one to break the bad news, she knows she has to. Rachel takes the news as best as she possibly can. A few days later, Vianne calls a meeting in her classroom with the other wives whose husbands are on Beck’s list. She informs them that their husbands will not be coming home and then hands out the postcards that Beck gave her.
It is understandable that Vianne doesn’t want to be the bearer of bad news—and admirable that she decides to be anyway. This is the first of several difficult conversations that Vianne has with Rachel, and their ability to have such conversations is a testament to their enduring friendship.
Themes
However, the other women do not take kindly to Vianne’s actions. They think she has purposely cozied up to Beck to get favors. Rachel defends Vianne from these charges and tells the women that they should be grateful for her help. After all, everyone has had to make sacrifices in the war and compromise their morals. Although the women do not apologize to Vianne, they do write messages on the postcards and hand them to her.
The women’s response to Vianne is calloused but understandable. To them, Vianne is too close with the same enemy that is holding their husbands hostage.
Themes
After the meeting, Vianne heads home and finds Beck there. She gives Beck the postcards and asks if he will mail them for her. Beck agrees to mail the cards, but only on one condition: he wants Vianne to make a list of all of the Jews, homosexuals, communists, Freemasons and Jehovah’s Witnesses at her school. This request worries Vianne, and at first, she refuses. However, Beck tempts Vianne by telling her that she could send a care package to Antoine if she makes the list.
This section marks a fundamental character shift for Beck. Previously, he seemed like a fundamentally good person on the wrong side of the war. However, here, he demonstrates his capacity to act callously and manipulatively toward Vianne, even if he’s just following orders. It is important to note that at this time, Vianne (and possibly Beck) would not know the purpose of such a list. However, both Beck and Vianne know that, at the very least, the list would be detrimental to the people on it.
Themes
Vianne doesn’t feel right about making the list, but she decides to do so anyway. She rationalizes her actions by telling herself that the information she is providing is easy to find anyway. When she finishes writing down all of the names, she hands the list to Beck. Beck inspects the list and then tells her that she forgot a name: Rachel’s. Rachel is Jewish, which, apparently, Beck has already figured out. Feigning ignorance, Vianne acknowledges Beck’s comment and then writes down Rachel’s name.
Although Vianne is not wrong—such information would not be hard to find for the most part—it is difficult to know whether this alone justifies her actions. In particular, writing down Rachel’s name seems like a horrible betrayal, even though Beck already knew she was of Jewish descent anyway.
Themes
