Raymie Nightingale

Chapter 1 introduces the three main characters, Raymie—the protagonist from whose perspective the story is told—Louisiana, and Beverly. Within the first two pages, Louisiana lets out a sob, exclaims she is “too terrified to go on” (1), and promptly faints. Tumultuous emotions of anxiety, despair, and trepidation flow throughout the book, and the concepts of tragedy, loss, and betrayal are all starkly revealed in Chapter 1. Louisiana mutters about betraying Archie her cat as she faints, and Raymie’s father betrays both Raymie and her mother, whose sadness never lifts throughout the book. Even the idyllic setting, amidst pine trees swaying by a lake, conjures up a tragic memory for Raymie: Lake Clara is named after Clara Wingtip, who died by suicide by drowning in it. Later in the book, it is revealed that Raymie’s father, Jim Clarke, has a picture of Lake Clara above his desk. Jim further reinforces the tragic association of Lake Clara by telling his young daughter that a shadow in the picture is Clara’s ghost. The harsh beginning of the narrative continues with the introduction of their unsympathetic and impatient instructor, Ida Nee, who is disinterested in any of the girl’s unfortunate situations, being unable to set her inflated ego aside.

Raymie imagines the plan to get her father back in intricate detail, down to the image of Lee Ann filing her nails as her father exclaims that he must return home to his now-famous daughter. Raymie pins her happiness on this plan, assuming that she can only be happy once her father returns home and certain that she is the only one who can achieve this result.

In Chapter 4, the reader meets the first sympathetic adult figure in the book, Mrs. Sylvester, Jim Clarke’s secretary. Mrs. Sylvester is described as cartoonish and bird-like, with a high-pitched voice. Despite sounding “ridiculous,” Mrs. Sylvester is a comforting and encouraging presence whom Raymie often turns to for advice and reassurance. Raymie shares her plan with Mrs. Sylvester, but not her mother, and it is Mrs. Sylvester who recommends both baton twirling and the instructor Ida Nee. The comforting aspect of Mrs. Sylvester’s personality is underscored physically by the presence of a large jar of candy she keeps on her desk. Mrs. Sylvester feeds swans every day at a pond by Clarke Family Insurance. The impression this act gives Raymie is that of a fairy tale—“maybe a fairy tale that hadn’t been told yet” (11). The significance of Mrs. Sylvester’s habit of feeding swans at Swip Pond and the imagery of a fairy tale, which usually has a happy ending, becomes clear later in the book.