White Bird: A Wonder Story

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2019

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Epigraph-Part 1, Chapters 1-10

Part 2, Chapters 1-6

Part 3, Chapters 1-5 and Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Part 2, Chapters 1-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2, Chapter 1 Summary

Part 2 opens with a line from Muriel Rukeyser’s poem “Seventh Elegy: The Dream-Singing Elegy”: “I hear your cries, you little voices of children…” (77).

Over the next few days, the Beaumiers unsuccessfully searched for Sara’s parents. They were also unable to execute their plan of smuggling her to Switzerland, as Nazis set up new headquarters in Dannevilliers. Sara was unable to leave the barn at all, as Julien’s neighbors, the Lafleurs, sat by their front window all day long. The Beaumiers and Lafleurs used to be friendly, but the Lafleurs turned reclusive and secretive after the Occupation. However, Vivienne continued to bring them milk from the market every day, just as she used to when they were friends.

Vivienne visited Sara every day, taking a long and circuitous route into town and through the forest to do so, to avoid any suspicion. Sara spent her time reading the books Vivienne brought her, sketching in their pages, exercised, but mostly daydreamt. Accompanying panels show her looking out a tiny window in the back wall of the barn, following which a white bird exits the same window and flies over the bordering forest (86).

Part 2, Chapter 2 Summary

Sara looked forward to the nights when Julien snuck over to the barn to visit. They discussed school gossip, went over schoolwork, and played together inside a decrepit old car parked in the barn. After Julien left, Sara tried to fall asleep. Most nights, she lied awake for a while, listening to wolves howling in the forest. When she did manage to fall asleep, she had nightmares, some of which featured a scary wolf; this startled her awake, and she waited for morning to arrive. Accompanying panels show a black wolf approaching a sleeping Sara, disappearing as she awakens (92).

Part 2, Chapter 3 Summary

Over a few months, Sara settled into a routine with life in the barn. By August of 1943, Julien became her best friend and confidant. She even told him about the inspiration behind her bird drawings, derived from the game Papa used to play with her. Sara and Papa played the game, depicted in sepia-toned illustrations, indicating a deeper flashback of events (92). Julien reassured Sara that she would see her Papa again someday. He told her that “(there) are some things we know in her heart. This is one of them” (98).

Part 2, Chapter 4 Summary

Julien went back to school in the fall. He was an exceptional student in all subjects, including math. Because of this, Pastor Luc called Julien into his office and told him that he would be placed in advanced mathematics again that year.

As he left Pastor Luc’s office, Julien spotted Sara’s sketchbook on the table. He went back later to retrieve it, and rushed back to the barn in excitement, even though it was not dark yet. Sara was overjoyed and overwhelmed when Julien handed her the sketchbook; however, they suddenly heard voices outside the barn. Sara rushed to hide under the rafters in the loft, while Julien pretended to be tinkering with the old car.

Part 2, Chapter 5 Summary

Sara recognized the voices as those of Vincent and his “henchmen,” Jérôme and Paul. Vincent spotted Julien taking the book from Pastor Luc’s office and followed him back to the barn to investigate. When Vincent confronted Julien about it, Julien stood up to him. Angered by this, Vincent told Julien that he was placed in advanced mathematics because the teachers pitied his condition. He vowed to “exterminate” Julien like the “vermin” he was, just as the Nazis were doing to Jews and other “inferior humans.”

Vincent began beating up Julien, and Sara moved to get up so she could fetch Julien’s parents. Catching wind of Sara’s plan, Julien shouted “Vive L’Humanité” to distract Vincent; almost simultaneously, the bats living in the rafters swarmed down upon Vincent and his henchmen. The older boys fled the barn, and Sara ran down to Julien. However, Julien yelled at her to go back up. If she was spotted, Julien’s parents would also be arrested and executed. Julien called Sara “self-absorbed” and “childish” for not realizing this, asserting that she was “the same snobby girl who sat next to me for three years and never talked to me” (113). Despite Sara’s apologies, Julien asked her to go back to the loft and left the barn in tears; it was the only time Sara ever saw him cry.

Part 2, Chapter 6 Summary

Vivienne and Jean-Paul reported the incident to Pastor Luc. They could not make a police complaint since Vincent’s father had Nazi connections. Pastor Luc promised to make it clear that Vincent would be expelled if this behavior was repeated. As Pastor Lac bemoaned the evil in the world wondering when “God” will make it end, Vivienne responded that it is up to “good people” to end it—“it is our fight, not God’s” (116).

Vivienne told Sara about the conversation with Pastor Luc, and Sara apologized for the danger she was putting the Beaumiers in. Vivienne comforted Sara about Julien’s condition, as well as his reaction to Sara, saying that Julien needed time to heal.

Sara did not see Julien for two weeks; when he did finally visit, things were initially awkward. Eventually Julien opened up about how humiliating it was to have Sara witness him being beaten up. Before he had polio, he used to be the fastest runner in his class; he knew people saw him as “weak” and “pathetic” due to his limp, which he resented.

Sara apologized for having been “selfish” and “self-absorbed,” and never standing up for Julien or even knowing his name back at school. Julien forgave her, telling her that “it doesn’t matter how you used to be. It matters how you are now” (121)—and that Sara’s willingness to risk her life to save Julien’s was a brave thing to do. Sara, in turn, asserted that Julien was brave for standing up to Vincent and his henchmen, as well as risking so much to help her. Sara and Julien made up, things go back to normal, and Sara felt completely secure in the strength of their friendship.

Part 2, Chapters 1-6 Analysis

Events in these chapters highlight the kind of resilience, as well as adaptability, that the human spirit is capable of. Despite the life in hiding that is now Sara’s reality, she has not lost her ability to daydream. Her resilience and adaptability are highlighted here. Furthermore, Sara eventually settles into a routine in the barn, a far cry from the comfortable and free life that she once lived.

The contrasting extremes of kindness and cruelty that human beings are capable of also come through in these chapters. Beyond just sheltering Sara, the Beaumiers actively care for and protect her. In addition to hiding her, they search for her parents. Both of these actions pose great risk to their lives. In addition to this, Vivienne makes sure to spend time with Sara every day, even though she takes hours to traverse the short distance between the house and the barn, having to take many detours to avoid suspicion. Vivienne’s kindness is also evident in how she continues to bring milk to the Lafleurs every day, despite them having distanced themselves from the Beaumiers after the Occupation.

Vincent and his henchmen stand in stark contrast to the Beaumiers, as evidenced by how they treat Julien. Besides just cruel words that Vincent hurls at Julien, Vincent also physically assaults him. Vincent quotes Julien’s physical disability as justification for the way he treats him. There is disgust and contempt in how Vincent views Julien, and this, once again, points to how the political has influenced the personal. Nazi propaganda involved portraying specific groups of people as inferior. This included not just the Jews and other “non-Aryan” racial groups, but differently-abled people and those with mental illnesses, amongst others. Vincent’s attitude to Julien is clearly influenced by the ideology propagated by the Nazis and affiliated political groups, and this translates into his treatment of Julien.

Julien and Sara’s responses to the situation, as well as Vivienne’s after the fact, all point to how kindness is intertwined with bravery. Julien stands up to Vincent and his henchmen, distracting them even as he is being physically hurt, so they don’t spot Sara. Sara, in turn, moves to expose herself and risk her life, to help Julien. Vivienne asserts to Pastor Luc that it is in the hands of people, not an outside force like God, to stop evil. This belief is translated into how the Beaumiers continually choose to risk their own lives to save Sara’s, by sheltering her.

Julien’s encounter with Vincent is also followed by him lashing out at Sara, indicating that he is a proud person. He feels humiliated at having had Sara witness what happened to him, especially since he used to be strong and fast before contracting polio. Julien values strength, and what he cannot do physically, he does mentally and emotionally. Bravery is his display of strength. Julien and Sara eventually reconcile because he recognizes Sara’s bravery, just as she recognizes his. Despite the obvious differences between the two, especially in context of their pre-war lives, Julien and Sara share similarities in character, and now experiences as well. They are both smart and talented students, who are experiencing persecution for being different in ways they did not choose: Julien owing to his limp, and Sara by nature of being Jewish. Facing adversity together, and choosing to be brave underneath their circumstances, brings them closer together. Sara rests assured in the security of their bond, strengthened by their shared experiences.

An important object that influences the turn of events leading to Vincent’s attack on Julien, is the sketchbook. Julien is thrilled at being able to bring Sara some joy in returning the sketchbook to her. Vincent, in turn, witnesses Julien collect the sketchbook from Pastor Luc’s office, which is what leads Vincent to follow him in the first place. The circumstances surrounding the sketchbook are symbolic of Julien attempting to return Sara’s hopes for the future to her; however, the political climate is still dangerous, and for someone like Sara to dream of a future is still a risky thing, inviting violence and harm. Julien’s encounter with Vincent is a reminder of the real danger that Jews, and those assisting them, constantly faced during the war.

Nevertheless, Sara continues to daydream, though her dreams at night are now troubled. The wolf makes a reappearance, now as a character in Sara’s dreams. While it continues to be a terrifying image, an air of mystery still surrounds it. There is a sense of unknown about the wolf, hinting to the possibility of danger lurking in every corner around Sara.

The dream wolf foreshadows the appearance of the real one later in the book, in circumstances that change one’s understanding of it. Another instance of foreshadowing occurring in these chapters is Julien’s reassurance to Sara that she will be reunited with Papa someday. Just as Sara’s intuition told her that she would never meet Maman again, Julien’s tells him that Sara’s Papa is alive and well.