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Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.
Sexism and Female Heroism
When Isabelle first tells her friend, Christophe, of her dreams of proving herself a hero in the war, he dismisses her due to her gender. For Christophe, girls cannot be war heroes, as they are barred from serving on the battlefield. “Women,” he explains, “are useless in war.” Throughout The Nightingale, Isabelle’s actions prove that women can contribute to the war effort and defend their nation even if they are not permitted to fight directly. Isabelle’s hero is Edith Cavell, a British nurse who was killed by the German army after helping hundreds of allied soldiers escape from German-controlled Belgium in the First World War. For Isabelle, Cavell’s story counters misogynistic assumptions, such as those of Christophe, regarding the role of women in war, inspiring her to become a hero in her own right.
The novel explores various forms of female heroism. Courage comes naturally to the bold Isabelle, who risks injury and death to help more than 100 allied airmen make the dangerous journey across the Pyrenees mountains. However, Vianne also demonstrates heroism in her own way, hiding Jewish children from the Nazis despite the serious risks. Both women face sexist attitudes and misogynistic violence during the war, but both also find ways to take advantage of men’s condescending assumptions. Isabelle is able to conceal her actions from the Nazis for a long period of time because they do not believe that “The Nightingale” could be a woman. Similarly, Vianne is cleared of suspicion in the disappearance of Beck, as the Nazis cannot imagine that a woman could be responsible. In the novel, the tendency of men to underestimate women actually empowers both Isabelle and Vianne to resist the Nazis more effectively. Through its depiction of Isabelle and Vianne’s conduct throughout the years of the occupation, The Nightingale highlights female heroism and the contributions of brave women during the war.
The Lingering Effects of War and Trauma
When her husband, Antoine, is conscripted into the French army, Vianne prays for his safe return while recognizing that he will come back a different man. Here, she recalls the transformation of her father after the First World War. Deeply traumatized by his experiences in trench warfare, Julien is unrecognizable to his daughters, unable to return their love. Antoine is one of many characters in The Nightingale who are profoundly changed by war, underscoring the deep psychic effects of trauma. In the end, Vianne’s worries are validated. When Antoine returns from a German prison, he is a stranger to her. They sit awkwardly around their dinner table, both knowing that they will have to learn to love each other again.
Just as the novel proves that women can also play an important role in the war, so too does it show that trauma is not restricted to those on the battlefield. At various points, Vianne reflects upon the ways in which the war has transformed her and those around her, including her daughter, Sophie. Those children raised during the Occupation, she realizes, have had to grow up too quickly, losing their childhood innocence and becoming increasingly tough and hard. The war touches every aspect of their lives, and they are shaped by the pressures it places upon them. Similarly, when Isabelle returns from the concentration camps, she struggles to adapt to normal life. When she hears rain hitting the roof of Le Jardin, for example, she bolts up, fearing that they are under fire. Isabelle’s wounds are both physical and mental, suggesting that trauma affects the mind as well as the body.
Memory and Forgetting
After the death of their mother, Vianne wills herself to move on and forget the past in order to spare herself from pain. Throughout the novel, she demonstrates a characteristic tendency to ignore painful or difficult truths, rarely allowing herself to dwell on memories and instead focusing on the future. Isabelle, in contrast, does not share her sister’s ability to repress inconvenient feelings and forget uncomfortable facts. While Vianne makes it through the difficult period following their mother’s death by keeping her head down and forgetting her earlier life, Isabelle cries out for her parents and the happier life they once lived. Through the sisters’ very different approaches to memory, The Nightingale asks whether it is better to forget the past, or to tackle difficult memories directly.
When the war ends, both sisters struggle to adapt to the peaceful conditions of ordinary life. When Antoine returns from the German prison, he feels like a stranger to Vianne, suggesting to her that that the road to normalcy will be a long and difficult one. She debates telling him about her painful experiences, including her brutal assault at the hands of Von Richter, but ultimately decides against it. Hoping to leave the past behind and move on, she does not tell him the truth of her child’s paternity, concluding that it would be better to forget those difficult times. Decades later, she still refuses to talk about the war, hiding the truth of her life from her son, Julien, who does not know that his biological father is Von Richter. However, her decision to attend the passeurs reunion event in Paris suggests that she has, at long last, decided to stop hiding from the past. In Paris, Julien is shocked to hear about the exploits of his mother and aunt during the war. He accuses his mother of concealing things from him, and Vianne finally agrees to tell her son the true story of her life. Through its depiction of Vianne’s decision to confront her memories directly, The Nightingale underscores the importance of accepting the past in order to heal, rather than silently carrying it like an open wound.
