War

War is a major theme in the novel The Girl You Left Behind by JoJoe Moyes. Thematically, war involves open combat between two or more opposing sides and the effect that the combat has on related parties, such as civilians.

In this novel, World War I, which lasted from 1914 to 1918, is the setting. The region of France in which Sophie lives is occupied by enemy German forces. Having been scarred by numerous battles, the landscape is hardly recognizable. The people are oppressed by the German invaders. The French citizens are murdered, beaten, and held to account by German law and dictates. As such, the French citizens work to subvert the Germans. French citizens either work with the Germans or turn against their own for working with the Germans. Liliane Bethune is a French woman who seems to be working with the Germans. As such she is...