The nightingale
The nightingale is a symbol for hope in the face of war. Isabelle’s code name within the resistance is the nightingale, and as a prominent member who saves countless people, she becomes a symbol of hope. Although the novel follows a dark time in French history, the nightingale acts as a symbol for the people who worked to make it better.
The bookstore
Isabelle and Vianne’s father’s bookstore acts as an allegory for the dramatic changes experienced in France during WWII: while the war has prevented most people from being able to buy books, the shop still remains, lacking customers but still containing all of its books. The fate of the store acts as an allegory for how normal life in France ground to a halt following the Nazi occupation, but relics of that old life still remained, because the Nazi occupation was inherently unnatural and forced change upon a city that wasn’t prepared.
Children
Children act as a motif over the course of The Nightingale, representing how war reaches to the entire population of a country, but also that life manages to go on. Vianne becomes pregnant as the result of rape by a Nazi soldier, representing that even an infant can be tainted by war, but the fact that she goes on to raise that child lovingly with her husband shows the ability to recover from violence. Her greatest contribution to the war effort is helping to hide Jewish children, who aren’t safe despite their age. The fate of Sophie’s friend, a Jewish girl shot by Nazis while running away, is another example of the children motif that displays the pervasiveness of war.
Journeys
Journeys and traveling are another motif throughout The Nightingale: this is a book about people going on both physical and emotional journeys, and how those journeys change them. Isabelle’s trip from Paris to Vianne’s village marks the start of her desire to work in the resistance, and as she takes more trips to the Spanish border throughout her resistance work, readers watch her mature and grow into an adult who’s been hardened by the world. Vianne’s journey in the epilogue, from her home in America to Paris, reconnects her to her heritage and her experiences in the war. It also ties her back to her sister, a more frequent traveler, and the place where she died.
The cellar trapdoor
The hiding place in the cellar is a symbol that represents the start of Vianne’s resistance work. While she previously was reluctant to work in the resistance, that changes as she realizes that her Jewish friends are in danger. The hiding place in the cellar is the first place she hides them, and marks the start of her journey towards further resistance. It also acts as an allegory for all of the small acts of resistance and hiding that the French people engaged in throughout the war.
