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
After Julien is in bed, Isabelle opens the wardrobe to speak to the pilot. The pilot tells her that his name is MacLeish. Isabelle promises that she will find a way to get MacLeish back to Britain as long as he does what she says. MacLeish tells Isabelle that she is brave. Isabelle replies that people more often categorize her as foolish. Isabelle gives MacLeish a bucket he can use as a toilet for the night and promises to get him out of the wardrobe as soon as Julien leaves for work the following day.
Finally, Isabelle gets a chance to interact with the pilot and form a plan. Like the other men in Isabelle’s life, Isabelle’s beauty immediately strikes the pilot, and he cannot help but flirt with her. Although flattered, Isabelle cannot shake the dangerous nature of the situation. She knows she must keep MacLeish as quiet as possible, which means he cannot even leave the wardrobe to use the bathroom.
Themes
The next morning, once Julien Rossignol is gone, Isabelle goes and steals some of his clothes for MacLeish. MacLeish puts on the clothes, although they do not fit him well. Isabelle is concerned that MacLeish’s appearance will give them away, but MacLeish promises her that they will be fine. After all, he managed to stay hidden while wearing a pilot’s uniform.
Isabelle’s plan is not perfect, but at this point, she has no other choice. Her father may notice that some of his clothes are missing, but Isabelle will have to explain that away later.
Themes
Before leaving the apartment, Isabelle and MacLeish formulate a plan. Isabelle tells MacLeish to leave the apartment first and then follow a block behind her. She wants to ensure that nobody spots them together if MacLeish gets caught and questioned. MacLeish agrees to the plan, and then they put it into action. Although Isabelle is nervous, the plan goes smoothly, and she manages to get MacLeish all the way to the resistance hideout.
Luckily, Isabelle’s plan goes off without a hitch as she and MacLeish safely reach resistance headquarters. However, Isabelle’s plan was reckless, and she is unsure how her fellow resistance members will greet her.
Themes
When Isabelle and MacLeish enter the hideout, Levy and Anouk chastise Isabelle for being so careless. Isabelle apologizes and then explains that MacLeish needs help getting back to England. Levy and Anouk explain that they currently have no way to get any fighter pilots across the border. Although they considered sending them via the Pyrenees, the route seems impossible. In response, Isabelle tells them the Pyrenees route is possible and that she would like to be the one to lead the pilots over it. She thinks she would be perfect because no one would suspect her.
Just as Isabelle expected, Levy and Anouk deride her bravery and instead treat it as foolishness. Although Levy and Anouk are happy she saved the RAF pilot, her actions could have cost them all their lives. Furthermore, another RAF pilot is just another problem for the resistance. However, Isabelle has other ideas. This passage is a significant moment for her character because it is the first time she actively engages in scheming alongside the resistance.
Themes
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Just then, a man walks in from the back room, and Isabelle sees that it is Gaëtan. Although Isabelle wants to hate him because he left her with Vianne, she immediately falls in love with him again at first sight. Levy tells Gaëtan about Isabelle’s plan, and eventually they decide to go forward with it. Later, Isabelle and Gaëtan get some time alone to speak. Isabelle is upset that he did not reveal himself to her earlier. Gaëtan apologizes but also tells Isabelle that he is the one who recommended that she come to Paris.
As his note suggested, Gaëtan never lost interest in Isabelle. He simply thought that, for the time being, it would be better if Isabelle didn’t join the resistance. However, he obviously believes in Isabelle, which is why he recommended she come to Paris.
Themes
After her talk with Gaëtan, Isabelle heads home. There, she finds Julien Rossignol, who reveals that he knows Isabelle hid MacLeish in his apartment. Additionally, he tells her that he knows all about her work with the resistance and her upcoming mission in the Pyrenees. Isabelle is shocked and cannot figure out how her father learned about her work with the resistance.
Isabelle has been careless, but not so careless that Julien would know all the details of her work. Could it be that Julien, too, is involved with the resistance?
Themes
Then, Julien Rossignol reveals that he has been working with the resistance all along. His work for the Nazis is only a cover he uses so that he can access their resources to forge papers. In fact, Julien wrote all the pamphlets that Isabelle delivered in Carriveau. Additionally, Julien tells Isabelle that he has a connection, Micheline Babineau, who can help her with her upcoming trip through the mountains. Isabelle is overjoyed to learn that her father is on her side. Meanwhile, Julien fears for his daughter’s safety.
This moment is the first significant plot twist in the novel. Not only was Julien not working for the Nazis, but he has been working alongside Isabelle the whole time—she just didn’t know it.
Themes
