Nicole Renard

Nicole Renard

Appearance vs Reality
1. Appears innocent
  1. "The pale purity of her face reminded me of the statue of St Therese" - Francis
  2. In reality, she enjoys the attention she gets from Francis and Larry. She isn't as innocent as she seems
    1. She ignores Francis and this makes him want her even more
      1. "Don't fall off, Francis" - Nicole
      2. "I wondered if she'd been waving at Joey LeBlanc or me"- Francis
    2. She knows it is inappropriate and she is teasing Larry when she dances with him
      1. "He allowed her to slip down against his body"
    3. "My hand lingered there for a moment and she didn't protest" - Francis
  3. She is easily influenced, when she is around nuns she wants to be a nurse, when she lives in a school, she wants to be a teacher.
    1. She would be an easy target for Larry to manipulate
2. Acts like she's okay in the end
  1. In reality she hasn't dealt with what's happened to her, being raped defines who she is now
    1. "'Fine" she says, but the softness is gone from her face"
Heroism
1. Brave as she carried on and kept her rape a secret
  1. Is she trying to protect Larry, or does she think that nobody would believe her?
    1. "Who was I going to tell? My mother and father? It would have killed them, ruined them forever"- Nicole
  2. "I'm adjusting. Getting better at it all the time" - Nicole
Consequences of war
1. Being raped wasn't the only thing that changed Nicole
  1. When Larry went off to war she focused her attention on Francis, this was her last bit of normality
  2. "The world was not a safe place any more"
    1. "I'd like to help more in the war. Maybe become a nurse" - Nicole
2. After the war, she changes her dream to being a teacher, suggesting she doesn't want anything to do with the war.
  1. "She wants to be a teacher, English maybe"
End of childhood
1. When Francis goes to see her she wears a green cardigan over a white top
  1. White represents purity and she is always described as pure, maybe the green cardigan is wrapped around her to shield her innocence that has been taken
    1. However, she still wears the white underneath, suggesting she has not had sex with anyone else since, the cardigan is protecting her
  2. She also wears a white top when she is raped, it is ripped and ruined, symbolising her loss of innocence
2. She has cut her hair off, the bluntness of her new hair could be a metaphor for the change inside of her, her sharp haircut matches her sharp, bitter personality
  1. "I don't recognize her, fail to see Nicole Renard in the girl who just entered the room" - Francis
Love/Hate
1. Francis loves Nicole unconditionally, but we get the impression it is unrequited
  1. "She looks at me with affection, but affection is not love" - Francis
  2. "It would always be Nicole Renard" - Francis
Forgiveness
1. At first Nicole blames Francis because he didn't do anything to stop Larry
  1. "I recognized in her eyes now what I could not deny: betrayal" - Francis
  2. At the end of the novel we find out that she had forgiven him, she just didn't get the chance to tell him
    1. "You weren't to blame for what happened"- Nicole

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	Created by Beth-Maynard almost 10 years ago