After the Race

by

James Joyce

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on After the Race makes teaching easy.

Charles Ségouin Character Analysis

Charles Ségouin is a French man who owns the car that Jimmy Doyle, André Rivière, and Villona are riding in at the end of the race. Ségouin serves as a symbolic representative for the French in the story. At the beginning of the story, he is in good spirits because of the French team’s success in the race, and because he has received some orders for the motor company that he is purportedly opening in Paris. He has also been working to persuade Jimmy to invest in this company. Ségouin appears to be rich, and apparently owns several large hotels in France. As the story progresses, Ségouin proves himself to have good taste (he sets up an excellent dinner at his hotel), and an able manager of the conversation among the group of men who gather for that dinner. Yet there is always the sense in the story that Ségouin may not be entirely on the up-and-up. It’s not clear just how legitimate his not-yet-founded motor company is. His efforts to get Jimmy to invest are manipulative (he implies that he is doing Jimmy a favor by letting him put money into the venture), and his hotel wealth is unconfirmed. Further, his demeanor through the night seems to imply a willingness to humor Jimmy while taking advantage of him—getting Jimmy drunk, then crushing him at cards. The implication is that Ségouin may be playing on Jimmy’s insecurities in order to exploit him, with a further suggestion that the French more generally may be exploiting the wealthy Irish class in similar ways.

Charles Ségouin Quotes in After the Race

The After the Race quotes below are all either spoken by Charles Ségouin or refer to Charles Ségouin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Ireland at the Beginning of the 20th Century Theme Icon
).
After the Race Quotes

Near the bank Ségouin drew up and Jimmy and his friend alighted. A little knot of people collected on the footpath to pay homage to the snorting motor.

Related Characters: Jimmy Doyle, Charles Ségouin, Villona
Related Symbols: Car
Page Number: 38
Explanation and Analysis:

Jimmy, whose imagination was kindling, conceived the lively youth of the Frenchmen twined elegantly upon the firm framework of the Englishman’s manner. A graceful image of his, he thought, and a just one.

Related Characters: Jimmy Doyle, Charles Ségouin, Routh, André Rivière
Page Number: 39
Explanation and Analysis:

Jimmy, under generous influences, felt the buried zeal of his father wake to life within him: he aroused the torpid Routh at last. The room grew doubly hot and Ségouin’s task grew harder each moment: there was even danger of personal spite. The alert host at an opportunity lifted his glass to Humanity and, when the toast had been drunk, he threw open a window significantly.

Related Characters: Jimmy Doyle, Charles Ségouin, Routh
Page Number: 39
Explanation and Analysis:

Play ran very high and paper began to pass. Jimmy did not know exactly who was winning but he knew that he was losing. But it was his own fault for he frequently mistook his cards and the other men had to calculate his I.O.U.’s for him. They were devils of fellows but he wished they would stop: it was getting late.

Related Characters: Jimmy Doyle, Charles Ségouin, Routh, André Rivière, Farley
Related Symbols: The Card Game
Page Number: 41
Explanation and Analysis:

It was a terrible game. They stopped just before the end of it to drink for luck. Jimmy understood that the game lay between Routh and Ségouin. What excitement! Jimmy was excited too; he would lose, of course. How much had he written away?

Related Characters: Jimmy Doyle, Charles Ségouin, Routh
Related Symbols: The Card Game
Page Number: 41
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire After the Race LitChart as a printable PDF.
After the Race PDF

Charles Ségouin Quotes in After the Race

The After the Race quotes below are all either spoken by Charles Ségouin or refer to Charles Ségouin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Ireland at the Beginning of the 20th Century Theme Icon
).
After the Race Quotes

Near the bank Ségouin drew up and Jimmy and his friend alighted. A little knot of people collected on the footpath to pay homage to the snorting motor.

Related Characters: Jimmy Doyle, Charles Ségouin, Villona
Related Symbols: Car
Page Number: 38
Explanation and Analysis:

Jimmy, whose imagination was kindling, conceived the lively youth of the Frenchmen twined elegantly upon the firm framework of the Englishman’s manner. A graceful image of his, he thought, and a just one.

Related Characters: Jimmy Doyle, Charles Ségouin, Routh, André Rivière
Page Number: 39
Explanation and Analysis:

Jimmy, under generous influences, felt the buried zeal of his father wake to life within him: he aroused the torpid Routh at last. The room grew doubly hot and Ségouin’s task grew harder each moment: there was even danger of personal spite. The alert host at an opportunity lifted his glass to Humanity and, when the toast had been drunk, he threw open a window significantly.

Related Characters: Jimmy Doyle, Charles Ségouin, Routh
Page Number: 39
Explanation and Analysis:

Play ran very high and paper began to pass. Jimmy did not know exactly who was winning but he knew that he was losing. But it was his own fault for he frequently mistook his cards and the other men had to calculate his I.O.U.’s for him. They were devils of fellows but he wished they would stop: it was getting late.

Related Characters: Jimmy Doyle, Charles Ségouin, Routh, André Rivière, Farley
Related Symbols: The Card Game
Page Number: 41
Explanation and Analysis:

It was a terrible game. They stopped just before the end of it to drink for luck. Jimmy understood that the game lay between Routh and Ségouin. What excitement! Jimmy was excited too; he would lose, of course. How much had he written away?

Related Characters: Jimmy Doyle, Charles Ségouin, Routh
Related Symbols: The Card Game
Page Number: 41
Explanation and Analysis: