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Part 1, Chapter 6
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Bonjour Tristesse, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age
Love vs. Passion
Decadence and Self-Destruction
Control
Summary
Analysis
Cécile goes back and forth between hating Anne and feeling justified in her feelings. She can’t decide if she’s just been stupid and selfish. Meanwhile, she hardly eats or talks, making things tense and awkward around the house. She hates herself for acting this way, but she can’t help it. One day, Raymond sees how thin Cécile has gotten and declares that she must give up all her studying if this is what it’s done to her. He calls Anne over to see, and Anne (correctly) suggests that Cécile has only been pretending to study. She urges Cécile to at least try to study and reminds her how important the exam is. Cécile lies down in the sand and sulks. Anne gently presses a hand to Cécile neck and urges her to cheer up and not make life harder for herself. Then Anne announces it’s time for lunch. Raymond takes Cécile’s hand as they head back to the house and smiles at her.
Cécile’s wishy-washy attitude toward Anne again highlights her youth, revealing her plan to take revenge against Anne as ill-conceived and impulsive. When Anne sees right through Cécile’s obvious charade of studying, it further emphasizes Cécile’s childishness. Conversely, Raymond’s impulse to take Cécile at her word reveals his own childishness, a trait that reads as far less sympathetic when it’s exhibited in a grown man. One has to wonder what a capable, successful, and gorgeous woman like Anne could possibly see in Raymond, but perhaps her attraction to him only serves to reinforce the novel’s stance on desire as an intoxicating, disorienting, and sometimes mystifying force.
Active
Themes
