The Nightingale

by

Kristin Hannah

Rachel de Champlain Character Analysis

Rachel de Champlain is the wife of Marc de Champlain and the mother of Ari and Sarah de Champlain. She is also Vianne Mauriac’s best friend. Rachel is a loving mother and a good friend. However, because she is Jewish, she is persecuted by the Nazis. She is fired from her job and eventually sent to a labor camp for being Jewish. After the war, Vianne learns that Rachel died while in the labor camp.

Rachel de Champlain Quotes in The Nightingale

The The Nightingale quotes below are all either spoken by Rachel de Champlain or refer to Rachel de Champlain. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Morality and Impossible Choices Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

The smell preceded them. Human sweat and filth and body odor. As they neared, the miasma of black separated, peeled into forms. She saw people on the road and in the fields, walking, limping, coming toward her. Some were pushing bicycles or prams or dragging wagons. Dogs barked, babies cried. There was coughing, throat clearing, whining. They came forward, through the field and up the road, relentlessly moving close, pushing one another aside, their voices rising.

Related Characters: Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator), Isabelle Rossignol, Rachel de Champlain, Antoine Mauriac
Page Number: 68-69
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

She was certain suddenly that she shouldn’t have done this. But what choice did she have? He was in control of her home. What would happen if she defied him? Slowly, feeling sick to her stomach, she wrote the last name on the list.

Rachel de Champlain.

Related Characters: Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator), Rachel de Champlain, Captain Beck, Antoine Mauriac
Page Number: 152
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

“Don’t think about who they are. Think about who you are and what sacrifices you can live with and what will break you [. . .] Isabelle will have her crisis of faith in this, too. As will we all. I have been here before, in the Great War. I know the hardships are just beginning. You must stay strong.”

Related Characters: Mother Superior (speaker), Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator), Isabelle Rossignol, Julien Rossignol, Rachel de Champlain
Related Symbols: The Nightingale
Page Number: 165
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“Ari,” she said quietly, taking his face in her hands. “Your maman is with the angels in Heaven. She won’t be coming back.”

Related Characters: Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator) (speaker), Rachel de Champlain, Ari de Champlain, Marc de Champlain
Page Number: 362
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

“Forgive my manners, Madame. But we have shown you all our best behaviors, and this is what we get from many of you French. Lies and betrayal and sabotage.”

Related Characters: Captain Beck (speaker), Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator), Rachel de Champlain, Sophie Mauriac, Ari de Champlain
Page Number: 370
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

“One boy with no memory of who he has may seem a small thing to lose, but to us, he is the future. We cannot let you raise him in a religion that is not yours and take him to synagogue when you remember. Ari needs to be who he is, and to be with his people. Surely his mother would want that.”

Related Characters: Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator), Rachel de Champlain, Ari de Champlain
Page Number: 533
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 39 Quotes

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.

Related Characters: Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator) (speaker), Rachel de Champlain, Julien Mauriac, Ari de Champlain, Von Richter
Page Number: 564
Explanation and Analysis:
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Rachel de Champlain Quotes in The Nightingale

The The Nightingale quotes below are all either spoken by Rachel de Champlain or refer to Rachel de Champlain. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Morality and Impossible Choices Theme Icon
).
Chapter 7 Quotes

The smell preceded them. Human sweat and filth and body odor. As they neared, the miasma of black separated, peeled into forms. She saw people on the road and in the fields, walking, limping, coming toward her. Some were pushing bicycles or prams or dragging wagons. Dogs barked, babies cried. There was coughing, throat clearing, whining. They came forward, through the field and up the road, relentlessly moving close, pushing one another aside, their voices rising.

Related Characters: Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator), Isabelle Rossignol, Rachel de Champlain, Antoine Mauriac
Page Number: 68-69
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

She was certain suddenly that she shouldn’t have done this. But what choice did she have? He was in control of her home. What would happen if she defied him? Slowly, feeling sick to her stomach, she wrote the last name on the list.

Rachel de Champlain.

Related Characters: Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator), Rachel de Champlain, Captain Beck, Antoine Mauriac
Page Number: 152
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

“Don’t think about who they are. Think about who you are and what sacrifices you can live with and what will break you [. . .] Isabelle will have her crisis of faith in this, too. As will we all. I have been here before, in the Great War. I know the hardships are just beginning. You must stay strong.”

Related Characters: Mother Superior (speaker), Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator), Isabelle Rossignol, Julien Rossignol, Rachel de Champlain
Related Symbols: The Nightingale
Page Number: 165
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“Ari,” she said quietly, taking his face in her hands. “Your maman is with the angels in Heaven. She won’t be coming back.”

Related Characters: Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator) (speaker), Rachel de Champlain, Ari de Champlain, Marc de Champlain
Page Number: 362
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

“Forgive my manners, Madame. But we have shown you all our best behaviors, and this is what we get from many of you French. Lies and betrayal and sabotage.”

Related Characters: Captain Beck (speaker), Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator), Rachel de Champlain, Sophie Mauriac, Ari de Champlain
Page Number: 370
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

“One boy with no memory of who he has may seem a small thing to lose, but to us, he is the future. We cannot let you raise him in a religion that is not yours and take him to synagogue when you remember. Ari needs to be who he is, and to be with his people. Surely his mother would want that.”

Related Characters: Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator), Rachel de Champlain, Ari de Champlain
Page Number: 533
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 39 Quotes

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.

Related Characters: Vianne Mauriac (The Narrator) (speaker), Rachel de Champlain, Julien Mauriac, Ari de Champlain, Von Richter
Page Number: 564
Explanation and Analysis: