Sisters Under the Rising Sun

Sister Nesta James, a nurse with the Australian Army, is a protagonist characterized by her pragmatic leadership, fierce courage, and unwavering sense of duty. As the senior nurse to survive the sinking of the HMS Vyner Brooke, she becomes the de facto matron for the remaining nurses, a responsibility she accepts without complaint. A round and dynamic character, Nesta quickly shows a decisive and deeply protective nature that facilitates her leadership: She organizes the nurses into an efficient unit, establishing a hospital, implementing sanitation protocols, and providing medical care to the entire camp population with almost no resources. Her prior experience working in South African mines has prepared her for making difficult decisions in the absence of doctors, and her small stature belies her immense inner strength.

Nesta’s bravery is a cornerstone of her character. She repeatedly places herself in danger to protect others, exemplifying the power of female solidarity. She confronts Japanese guards who spy on the bathing women, takes a slap intended for another nurse, and refuses to provide nurses to serve as “hostesses” for the Japanese soldiers. Her reply, when asked if she is prepared to die for this cause, is a succinct but firm, “Yes, I’d prefer that” (110). This willingness to sacrifice herself for the safety and dignity of her nurses earns her respect from the entire camp.

Despite her resilient and commanding exterior, Nesta is a nuanced character who experiences moments of grief, anger, and self-doubt. She mourns the loss of her colleagues, particularly Matron Paschke, and feels the immense weight of her leadership role, at one point breaking down and confessing her anger and fear to the other nurses. These moments reveal the human cost of her constant strength. The glimpses the narrative provides of her life before the war, including her adventurous spirit and a nascent relationship with a doctor named Rick, further humanize her. In stepping into an unwanted leadership position and discovering the depths of her own courage, Nesta embodies the resilience and professional dedication of the nurses who become the backbone of the prison camp community.

Ena Murray is Norah’s younger sister and serves as a deuteragonist and a foil to her more outwardly resilient sibling. At the beginning of the novel, Ena is characterized by her fear and her dependence on Norah and her husband, Ken. Her plea, “Please don’t make us go, Norah” (5), establishes her as the more vulnerable of the two sisters.

However, as a round and dynamic character, Ena undergoes significant development throughout her captivity, finding new purpose and strength through her maternal bond with June. By taking on the role of surrogate mother, Ena finds a reason to endure beyond her own survival. This newfound responsibility forces her to mature and develop a resilience that mirrors Norah’s. While Norah channels her energy into the orchestra, Ena pours hers into caring for June. Her journey from a frightened young wife to a capable and loving maternal figure demonstrates the transformative power of chosen family in the face of loss and trauma. She simultaneously remains Norah’s closest confidante and source of emotional support, reflecting the deep, unbreakable bond of sisterhood that is central to the novel.

Margaret Dryburgh, a missionary teacher with nursing training, functions as a mentor and spiritual anchor for the community of internees. She is a round and static character whose faith, wisdom, and musical talent provide the women with hope and moral guidance. She is a figure of deep strength and dignity, leading the women through quiet, unwavering example.

One of Margaret’s most significant contributions to the camp is her collaboration with Norah Chambers on “The Captives’ Hymn,” a piece of music that becomes a symbol of their collective faith and endurance. She writes the lyrics, transforming the women’s suffering into an expression of hope that sustains the entire community. She also establishes church services in The Shed, creating a space for spiritual comfort and communal gathering, yet she avoids proselytizing, instead meeting each individual woman where she is; when one angrily rejects her advice to “look up” as religious in character, Margaret clarifies that she is not talking about God or heaven but rather about the beauty of the natural world. Her gentle but firm leadership style is evident when she organizes the women to share their resources with the newly arrived nurses and when she encourages Norah to pursue the idea of the voice orchestra. Her death from dengue fever marks a significant blow to the camp’s morale but also solidifies her status as a beloved, martyr-like figure whose spirit continues to inspire the women.

Sister Vivian “Bully” Bullwinkel is a pivotal character whose primary role is to serve as the witness to one of the most brutal events in the novel, the Radji Beach Massacre. Her testimony on this event anchors the narrative in the reality of The Indiscriminate Brutality of War. Introduced as a knowledgeable and good-humored nurse, she is transformed by the experience of surviving a war crime in which her friends and colleagues were executed. Her survival is a testament to her resilience, but the experience leaves her traumatized, as evidenced by her withdrawn demeanor in the days leading up to the massacre’s anniversary.

Vivian’s narrative significance lies in her act of bearing witness. Her account of the event to her fellow nurses and later to Commodore Modin is essential to the novel’s depiction of war, but it also transforms her personal trauma into a historical record—an act paralleled by her insistence that she will not mend the bullet hole in her uniform, instead preserving this as a reminder of the atrocity. Vivian’s journey from a cheerful nurse to a haunted but resolute survivor highlights the lasting impact of war on the individual psyche and the moral courage required to ensure that war’s crimes are not forgotten.

John Chambers is Norah’s husband. A flat and static character, he is ill with typhus when the novel introduces him, immediately establishing the precariousness of the characters’ lives. His separation from Norah after their capture becomes the driving force behind her will to endure; her hope of reuniting with him and finding their daughter, Sally, sustains her through years of hardship. His eventual, emotional reunion with Norah at the end of the novel provides her arc with the beginnings of its resolution, fulfilling a hope that she held on to throughout her ordeal.

June is a five-year-old girl whose mother dies when the HMS Vyner Brooke sinks. Rescued from the water by Norah and Ena, she functions as an archetypal symbol of the innocent victims of war. As a flat and static character, her primary role is to provide a focus for the maternal instincts of the women, particularly Ena, who becomes her surrogate mother. June’s simple needs and her childish perspective—such as her desire for a banana or her pride in collecting fallen grains of rice—highlight the extreme deprivation and compromises of camp life. Her presence encourages the women around her to maintain a sense of humanity and responsibility, making her a catalyst for the formation of a chosen family.

Mrs. Hinch, whose first name is Gertrude, is the elected internee deputy commandant and acts as the official liaison between the prisoners and their Japanese captors. She is a static, round character defined by her formidable and diplomatic leadership style. Described as possessing both “diplomacy and [charm] to boot” (117), she uses her authority to organize the camp into a functioning society with committees and work rotas, creating order and purpose amid the chaos. An American married to an Englishman, she confronts the Japanese commandants with a directness and courage that often result in small but significant victories for the internees. She is a pillar of strength and administrative competence, representing the women’s capacity for self-governance in defiance of their captors.

Functioning as a collective entity, the Australian nurses embody the novel’s central theme of the power of female solidarity in a dehumanizing environment. As trained professionals, they provide the camp with its medical and organizational backbone, tending to the sick with minimal supplies and creating a semblance of order. Their shared identity as military personnel and their disciplined training make them a formidable, unified group. This unity is most powerfully demonstrated in their collective refusal to become “hostesses” for the Japanese officers, an act of defiance that inspires the entire camp. While individuals like Betty Jeffrey and Jean Ashton have distinct voices, their primary role is to contribute to the group’s identity as a sisterhood bound by duty, courage, and mutual support.