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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Importance of Memory:
Memory is a fundamental part of The Nightingale's narrative. Not only is the primary story one long memory of Vianne's, but the novel explores how global war can impact characters' relationships with memory itself. In Chapter 1, Hannah foreshadows the importance of memory within The Nightingale by purposefully transitioning between the narrator's present thoughts and her memories, thus introducing the novel's frame story:
I close my eyes and in the darkness that smells of mildew and bygone lives, my mind casts back, a line thrown across years and continents. Against my will—or maybe in tandem with it, who knows anymore?—I remember.
In the passage above, Hannah hints that memory is a central theme within The Nightingale. Not only does the phrase "I remember" lead the reader into the flashback sequences of Vianne and Isabelle’s life during World War II, but the narrator (later revealed to be Vianne) admits that her memories partially appear "against" her will. As the novel progresses, readers learn that Isabelle and Vianne’s childhood memories are partially to blame for their troubled relationship, for they have not yet forgiven each other for past mistakes. However, memory is also how Vianne keeps Isabelle alive, a discovery she makes when narrating the end of the novel as an old woman:
I smile at them, my two boys who should have broken me, but somehow saved me, each in his own way. Because of them, I know now what matters, and it is not what I have lost. It is my memories. Wounds heal. Love lasts. We remain.
This passage from the novel's final chapter confirms the importance of memory within The Nightingale. Having fully explored the memories of her life in France during the war—both the high and low points—Vianne learns that memory is what matters most in her life; a realization that Hannah foreshadows in Chapter 1 with the line "Against my will—or maybe in tandem with it." Vianne's complex relationship with memory is ever-changing, but after losing Isabelle in the war and suffering immense amounts of personal trauma, memory is what she chooses to hold dear.
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—The Concentration Camp:
As the Nazi Party takes total control of Paris—a city in which Isabelle spends considerable time working as a French spy—Isabelle begins to recognize her high level of vulnerability as a single woman (and an illegal spy, no less) untethered to a family unit and singular space. However, in an ominous moment of foreshadowing, Hannah hints that Isabelle's femininity will not protect her forever:
"I guess I am lucky to be a woman,” Isabelle muttered to herself. How was it that the Germans hadn’t noticed by now—October 1941—that France had become a country of women? Even as she said the words, she recognized the false bravado in them.
During this moment In Chapter 19, Isabelle sees a German sign in Paris warning those who aid non-German aircrafts: any men found guilty will be shot on sight, while women will be sent to concentration camps. At this point in the novel Isabelle remains largely undiscovered as a spy and continues to feel gratitude for her ability to go undercover. Society, after all, is less likely to think a woman capable of committing such fraudulent crimes as active resistance. However, Hannah foreshadows Isabelle's ultimately doomed fate through the line "she recognized the false bravado." Deep inside, Isabelle is aware that she faces immense danger as a female member of the French resistance effort. Soon after she spots the German warning sign in Paris, the Germans capture and forcibly transfer her Ravensbrück, a concentration camp for women in northern Germany. Even for a woman as calculated, beautiful, and seemingly-innocent as Isabelle, no one under Nazi rule is truly safe: a tragic fact which Hannah foreshadows when Isabelle ponders her fading security in Chapter 19.
Related Themes:
Chapter 39
Explanation and Analysis—The Importance of Memory:
Memory is a fundamental part of The Nightingale's narrative. Not only is the primary story one long memory of Vianne's, but the novel explores how global war can impact characters' relationships with memory itself. In Chapter 1, Hannah foreshadows the importance of memory within The Nightingale by purposefully transitioning between the narrator's present thoughts and her memories, thus introducing the novel's frame story:
I close my eyes and in the darkness that smells of mildew and bygone lives, my mind casts back, a line thrown across years and continents. Against my will—or maybe in tandem with it, who knows anymore?—I remember.
In the passage above, Hannah hints that memory is a central theme within The Nightingale. Not only does the phrase "I remember" lead the reader into the flashback sequences of Vianne and Isabelle’s life during World War II, but the narrator (later revealed to be Vianne) admits that her memories partially appear "against" her will. As the novel progresses, readers learn that Isabelle and Vianne’s childhood memories are partially to blame for their troubled relationship, for they have not yet forgiven each other for past mistakes. However, memory is also how Vianne keeps Isabelle alive, a discovery she makes when narrating the end of the novel as an old woman:
I smile at them, my two boys who should have broken me, but somehow saved me, each in his own way. Because of them, I know now what matters, and it is not what I have lost. It is my memories. Wounds heal. Love lasts. We remain.
This passage from the novel's final chapter confirms the importance of memory within The Nightingale. Having fully explored the memories of her life in France during the war—both the high and low points—Vianne learns that memory is what matters most in her life; a realization that Hannah foreshadows in Chapter 1 with the line "Against my will—or maybe in tandem with it." Vianne's complex relationship with memory is ever-changing, but after losing Isabelle in the war and suffering immense amounts of personal trauma, memory is what she chooses to hold dear.
Related Themes:
