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Literary Devices
Key Examples in The Nightingale
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Isabelle's Childhood:
Although the primary story of The Nightingale is indeed a flashback from Isabelle's young adult years, Hannah often utilizes flashbacks within Vianne and Isabelle's narrative to further contextualize their characters and situations. For example, in Chapter 5, the narrator briefly flashes back to Isabelle's childhood as she recalls being separated from Vianne at age four:
The long train ride… Isabelle stuffed in beside Vianne, who did nothing but sniff and cry and pretend to sleep. And then Madame looking down her copper pipe of a nose, saying, They will be no trouble. Although she’d been young—only four—Isabelle thought she’d learned what alone meant, but she’d been wrong.
Related Themes:
