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Summary
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Boule de Suif, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Wealth and Hypocrisy
Class Division in Wartime
Gender, Power, and Sacrifice
Exploitation and Class Hierarchy
Summary
Analysis
For days, French soldiers with long beards and tattered uniforms have been wandering through town, seeming broken. Their units are disbanded and they march without a flag, seemingly by habit, looking tired and without resolve. Their leaders were once merchants but are now “warriors of circumstance,” elected as officers based on their families or on “the length of their mustaches.” They discuss battle strategy as though they alone are responsible for the fate of France, and they fear their foot-soldiers, whose bravery can quickly give way to debauchery.
The opening descriptions are cinematic, focusing on a group of people rather than specific characters. This demonstrates the way in which these French foot soldiers are united as one miserable unit, beaten down by war. Furthermore, the foot soldiers don’t seem to have a clear allegiance to or investment in any cause (they’re marching “without a flag” due to habit alone), emphasizing that this is just a job for them—albeit a risky and terrible one. This passage also implicitly criticizes military officers as being chosen, absurdly, based on money rather than experience or skill. Maupassant depicts the officers’ strategy discussions as pompous, and he emphasizes the emptiness of their authority by revealing their fear of the foot soldiers they command.
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The Prussian army is about to enter the French city of Rouen, and the National Guard has retreated. As the townspeople wait anxiously for the occupying army to arrive, the streets are empty and the shops are closed. When the Prussians arrive, the people of Rouen, who are shut inside their houses, feel oddly excited. It’s the feeling of inevitable catastrophe, of security and law disappearing, leaving people powerless in the face of “unreasoning, ferocious brutality,” destroying faith in justice, god, and reason.
Here, Maupassant shows how war disrupts the lives of everyday people. Those who weren’t conscripted into the terrible job of foot soldier are now hiding inside their homes, unable to continue their lives or business, merely because of some wartime strategy that silly officers have cooked up. Maupassant depicts this as cataclysmic: they’re expecting something so terrible to happen that they’ve lost faith in their bedrock principles, such as religion and justice. However, while their lives are undeniably upended, they are not so affected by the violence of war that they can’t still a feel a little excitement at the prospect of change.
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As the invaders become occupiers, the terror dissipates. Soon, Prussian officers eat at French dinner tables, politely expressing their distaste for having conquered Rouen. Some of the townspeople see an advantage in being kind to the Prussians; the Prussians are now in power, after all, and maybe opposing them wouldn’t be brave so much as foolish. Many townspeople are polite to the Prussians in private, within their own homes, but they know not to do this in public. The streets remain empty except for the Prussian soldiers, who—despite their “great weapons of death”—seem to have no contempt for the people they’ve conquered.
Life continues, but there’s a strange atmosphere in town: the “odor of invasion” affects everything. The Prussians start demanding money from the French, and while the townspeople can afford it, they bristle at this indignity. Prussian soldiers sometimes turn up murdered, since the “hatred of the foreigner” inspires those Frenchmen who are “ready to die for an idea.” Nonetheless, once the Prussians have established order without horror or brutality, the townspeople once again focus on trade and commerce. Some locals with financial interests in the French-occupied city of Le Havre decide to travel there through Prussian territory.
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On a cold, frosty morning before daybreak, ten travelers meet by a small carriage. They are covered in blankets, but a few men recognize each other and comment that they are also bringing their wives. These men are Mr. Loiseau, Mr. Carré-Lamadon, and Count Hubert de Breville. All three determine that they will not be returning to Rouen—they’d go over to England if the Prussians ever reach Le Havre—because all three of the men “ha[ve] the same projects” and thus are “of the same mind.”
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It begins to snow, and the coachman starts harnessing the carriage and suggests that the travelers get inside. The three men “install” their wives into the coach, enter, and are then followed by the four others who are still covered and indistinct. The three married women—Mrs. Loiseau, Mrs. Carré-Lamadon, and Countess Hubert de Breville—sit towards the back and bring out foot stoves. The carriage finally leaves, but it moves slowly because of the snow. Day breaks, and light enters the carriage, illuminating all of the travelers.
Aside from the three married couples there are four other travelers, and in the light of day they all eye each other curiously. Sitting next to the other women are two nuns who hold rosary beads and mutter a series of prayers. One has smallpox all over her face and the other is gaunt and has lung disease. Besides these nuns, there are two single travelers: a man and a woman, Cornudet and Miss Elizabeth Rousset. Cornudet is immediately identified as a democrat, angering and irritating the other men, and Miss Rousset is recognized as a prostitute, horrifying the married women.
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Mrs. Loiseau, Mrs. Carré-Lamadon, and the Countess start to whisper things like “public shame,” loud enough so that Miss Rousset can hear it. She throws them a fierce look, though, and everybody averts their eyes (except for Mr. Loiseau, who cannot look away). The married “honest” women draw together, forming a group based on “married dignity,” and they quickly start chatting as though they had always been excellent friends.
Cornudet, too, draws the married men together against his rabble-rousing democratic ideas. The Count discusses the “havoc” that the war has caused, such as losing cattle and crops (although he’ll hardly feel the financial loss). Mr. Carré-Lamadon talks about large amount of money he has stashed away as a reserve. Mr. Loiseau, it turns out, sold the French government all of the leftover wine he’d had in his cellars, and he is looking to collect on this when he arrives in Le Havre. The three are “brothers through money.”
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Most of the group expects to eat lunch on their way in the town of Tôtes. But the carriage has moved so slowly that it now looks as though they’ll be lucky to make it there by nightfall. Mr. Loiseau, Mr. Carré-Lamadon, and Count Hubert expect to find some small eating-house or bar, but the Prussian occupation has scared away businesses in the area. The three men leave the coach and run up to farms along road in search of food, but the peasants of the French countryside have learned to hide their food so that Prussian soldiers don’t come and take provisions by force.
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By now it is one o’clock in the afternoon, and everybody in the carriage is extremely hungry. Mr. Loiseau says loudly that there is a “hollow in [his] stomach.” Nobody is in the mood to speak anymore because they are thinking about how much they’d like to eat. Miss Rousset keeps checking something underneath her seat, but then straightening up and looking around at her traveling companions. Mr. Loiseau makes a joke about giving “a thousand francs” for a piece of ham—a joke that his wife Mrs. Loiseau does not appreciate, as she is not interested in wasting money, even in jest. The Count says that he cannot understand why he didn’t think to bring food. Everyone else “reproach[es]” themselves in the same way.
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Cornudet, however, at least has rum. He offers it to the group, but everybody coldly refuses him, except for Mr. Loiseau who takes two gulps. The merchant is now in a good mood, as the alcohol warms him up, and he makes a joke about eating the “fattest of the passengers.” Cornudet laughs, but everyone else is a little horrified, as they think it is a reference to Miss Rousset. The nuns stop mumbling into their roseries but keep their eyes cast downwards.
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The coach trudges on—it is now three o’clock, and the passengers are in pain they are so hungry. Unable to resist any longer, Miss Rousset bends down and pulls out a basket from under her seat. Beneath a clean white napkin, there is a feast—chickens, pates, fruits, along with four bottles of wine; she packed three whole days’ worth of food in case they did not reach an inn. Miss Rousset starts quietly eating the food. As the smell fills the carriage, everyone’s mouth waters and resentment grows. Some of the other women begin to have violent thoughts towards Miss Rousset.
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Mr. Loiseau cannot stop looking at Miss Rousset’s chicken, and he finally speaks to her, praising her foresight. Miss Rousset immediately offers him some food. He says that he could not possibly refuse. “Everything goes in time of war, does it not, Madame?” he says. He starts to eat so happily that the rest of the carriage becomes even more distressed that they themselves are not eating.
Miss Rousset then offers her food to the two nuns, who also eagerly accept. Cornudet decides to join in and they enjoy a sort of picnic in the carriage while the others watch. The remaining passengers open and close their mouths, sick with hunger and fury. Mr. Loiseau, after a time, convinces Mrs. Loiseau to also accept Miss Rousset’s offer.
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At this point, Mr. Carré-Lamadon and Mrs. Carré-Lamadon and the Count and Countess are in total agony—they can’t believe that food is so close but that they are not eating it. Suddenly, with a sigh, Mrs. Carré-Lamadon goes pale and faints. Her husband panics and nobody knows what to do until one of the nuns offers a bit of wine. Mrs. Carré-Lamadon is revived and urged to finish a whole glass. The group determines that the faint was from hunger.
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Miss Rousset is very upset, and she stammers how she absolutely would have given her food to the “ladies and gentlemen” if she’d “dared.” Mr. Loiseau implores the rest of the group to abandon normal customs and accept the young woman’s offer of food. The four hungry travelers still do not agree, until, after hesitation, the Count finally says that they will accept, with much thanks.
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The whole group descends on the basket and quickly empties it. Mrs. Carré-Lamadon and the Countess now allow themselves to talk to Miss Rousset (feeling an obligation because they’ve eaten her food). Although they speak casually at first, Miss Rousset carries herself very well, in the opinion of the fancier women, and soon they talk “with more abandon.” Mrs. Loiseau, though, is a bit surly; she remains quiet and eats.
Discussing the war, the group contrasts the Prussians’ horrible acts with French bravery. As they share personal stories, Miss Rousset says that, despite having a house stocked with food (and by all accounts a thriving career), she left Rouen because she could not bear the sight of the Prussians descending on her city. The Prussians make her “blood boil” and she’d even tried to choke one of them. The others are impressed by her fortitude.
Hearing her story, Cornudet adopts a smug smile, as though he himself had fought a Prussian. He gives a short but didactic political lecture, then makes an insulting comment about Napoleon Bonaparte III. Because Miss Rousset is a Bonapartist, she lashes out at him, demanding exactly what he would have done if he’d been in charge—would he have ever gone into battle himself? The Count then steps in to “calm” the “exasperated” young woman. Although there is awkwardness in the carriage afterwards, Mrs. Carré-Lamadon and the Countess are even more impressed by Miss Rousset’s outburst.
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It is now ten o’clock and they’re still in the carriage. The food is gone, night falls, and the group stops talking as they digest. They feel the cold again. The Countess gives her foot stove to Miss Rousset, and Mrs. Loiseau and Mrs. Carré-Lamadon give theirs to the two nuns.
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At long last, the carriage arrives in the town of Tôtes. The group traveled thirteen hours in one day; they are exhausted, and it is late. The coach pulls up in front of an inn, but before the group can take shelter inside, they hear a German voice in the darkness and the sound of a sword on the ground. Everyone is frightened. The driver opens the carriage door and shines a lantern on the group, who all look wide-eyed and fearful. Next to the driver they see a Prussian officer—an “excessively tall” young man who is “squeezed into his uniform” and with “an enormous mustache.” He asks them all to descend.
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The two nuns obey the order first, followed by the Count and Countess, then Mr. Carré-Lamadon and Mrs. Carré-Lamadon then Mr. Loiseau and Mr. Loiseau. Mr. Loiseau greets the officer, who looks right through him. Although they are closest to the door, Miss Rousset and Cornudet leave the carriage last. Miss Rousset is dismayed and even a little “disgusted” at her companions’ docility.
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Finally, the group can enter the kitchen of the inn. The German officer asks the driver for the travelers’ papers (which state their names and professions) and determines that they all have clearances to travel. Since everything is in order, he leaves, and the group breathes a collective sigh of relief. They even get their appetite back.
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They group orders dinner. A little while later, before the food is ready, the inn keeper Mr. Follenvie comes down. Slightly out of breath, he lets the group know that the Prussian officer wishes to see Miss Rousset. She bristles and insists that she will not go. The group is clearly bothered, but the Count says to her that she would be wrong to “resist those in power.” He makes the argument that it must be about some very small matter, and the rest of the group begs her to comply with the officer’s order. She does, but not before telling the group “[i]t is for you that I do this.” The Countess grasps Miss Rousset’s hands in thanks.
The group is nervous because they now fear the possible repercussions of Miss Rousset’s hot temper. But ten minutes later she returns, flustered and angry but uninterested in sharing what happened. Even the Count cannot get it out of her. So, the group sits down to dinner. Despite their initial alarm, the travelers enjoy a merry meal, full of cider and wine and, for Cornudet, beer—the drink of revolutionary democrats.
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Before dinner is over, the war comes up in conversation again. Mr. Follenvie and Mrs. Follenvie join the other travelers, and the innkeeper’s wife quite enjoys talking. She is livid about the war—she has two sons in the army, plus Prussian soldiers took some money from her. She calls the Prussians lazy, dirty, greedy, and useless. But she also makes a point about how countries, when at war, treat soldiers “as if they were game.” Cornudet and Mrs. Follenvie agree on something substantial: that the kings and rulers of empire who make war should be punished.
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Meanwhile, in a corner, Mr. Loiseau sells the innkeeper six cases of wine. Later that night, for fun, he spies on the hallway after everybody has gone to bed. Mr. Loiseau sees Miss Rousset appear in the corridor—then, he also sees Cornudet. The two are outside Miss Rousset’s room, and she seems to be pushing Cornudet away. She says no, no, not “[w]hen there are Prussians in the house, in the very next room, perhaps.” Cornudet, rejected, leaves Miss Rousset alone.
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At the agreed-upon time the next morning, all of the travelers are ready to leave Tôtes. Inexplicably, however, the carriage is not prepared. They are certain they told the driver eight o’clock; mystified, Mr. Loiseau, Mr. Carré-Lamadon, and the Count walk into town to try to sort it out. In town, they come across Prussian foot soldiers helping the townspeople with their daily tasks—paring potatoes, doing laundry, even looking after little children. The Count asks a townsperson about the strange co-habitation, and the villager explains that these Prussian soldiers are victims of the war too, just like the French, and that they, too, “weep for their homes.” The three traveling men are incredulous. Mr. Loiseau makes a joke about the French and the Prussians “repopulating the land.”
They finally locate their driver, who informs the men that he’s been given instructions not to prepare the carriage. Again, the men are mystified. The driver explains that he’d been handed strict orders from the Prussian officer. None of these men know why.
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Returning to the inn, the only thing the travelers can do is wait. Two hours later, when the innkeeper wakes up, they ask him what happened. But Mr. Follenvie knows as much as the driver—only that there were explicit orders from the Prussian officer not to let the group go. The Count requests to see the commander; he and Mr. Carré-Lamadon attempt to leverage their status and their titles for a meeting. The officer says he will see them after lunch, around one o’clock; the men must wait.
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When the Prussian officer finally receives the Count, Mr. Carré-Lamadon, and Mr. Loiseau, the officer has his feet up on his desk, he is draped in a garish silk robe, and he is smoking a pipe. Despite the travelers’ inquiries, the officer will neither allow them to leave nor tell them why they cannot go. The men leave the office stunned.
The group is now wallowing in boredom at the inn. They nervously try to piece together why they are being detained; the “richest [are] the most frightened,” as they feel that they might be held for ransom.
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That night, before dinner, Mr. Follenvie appears and asks if Miss Rousset has “changed her mind.” Even more forcefully than before, Miss Rousset insists that she will never, ever change her mind. As the innkeeper leaves, the group crowds around her, asking her to explain what is going on. Miss Rousset relays that the Prussian officer wants to sleep with her. The group responds with total indignation. Cornudet even breaks his glass. But the next morning, everyone’s shock has worn off and the travelers start to wonder what the fastest way out of the situation is.
Bored to death, the group wanders around the town with a growing feeling of helplessness. The married men discuss escape plans (none of which are possible). When the Prussian officer passes the group out on their walk, the three married women are mortified that they’re in the presence of Miss Rousset. Mrs. Carré-Lamadon thinks to herself that the officer is even kind of attractive (she’d know—she’s been friendly with a few officers) and that if he were French there’d be nothing wrong with him.
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The next morning, the group can hardly speak to each other, since they are so full of boredom and despair. When Miss Rousset heads into town by herself for a christening, the married travelers immediately put their heads together and try to figure out how to get out of this situation. Mr. Loiseau comes up with the idea of leaving Miss Rousset if the Prussian will let the rest of them go. However, since the officer “under[stands] human nature” and knows that if he keeps everyone he’s more likely to get what he wants, they abandon this idea. Mrs. Loiseau—who has had enough—asks why Miss Rousset “has the right to refuse one [man] more than another.” She insists that the officer “respects married women” and he really could just take any of the women in the inn by force if he wanted to.
The group, still conspiring, finds some bleak humor in all of this. They decide that, in order to leave, they will have to convince Miss Rousset to do the officer’s bidding. However, they are determined to present the idea so slyly that Miss Rousset will think she has come up with it herself.
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During lunch, this plan takes form. Mrs. Loiseau, Mrs. Carré-Lamadon, and the Countess are kind to Miss Rousset only to “increase her docility and her confidence in their council.” The group talks an awful lot about sacrifice, and over and over they reiterate that sacrifice is perfect and natural and expected, especially of a woman in society. But Miss Rousset once again says no to the innkeeper when he comes down to pose the usual question before dinner.
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Spirits plummet. No one in the group knows what to do. The Countess, who has no more useful dialogue about duty, absently asks the nuns to tell a religious story. Although they’d not been part of any of the earlier conversations, the two women tell a story that “len[ds] a formidable support to the conspiracy.” They choose to talk about Abraham blindly following orders because of faith. The Countess seizes this opportunity and summarizes: “the need justifies the means.”
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The group goes to bed and wakes late in the afternoon the next day. They all go for a walk. The Count takes Miss Rousset’s arm and speaks to her in a tone that is at once “paternal,” “familiar,” and “a little disdainful.” He tries both flattery and guilt, telling Miss Rousset how lucky the officer would be to sleep with such a pretty woman, but also making it clear that it is cruel of her to allow the rest of the group to remain hostages. That night, Miss Rousset does not come down for dinner.
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Everyone is ecstatic. Mr. Loiseau cries out that he will “pay for the champagne.” The group becomes “communicative and buoyant.” They fill with joy. Everyone compliments each other, admires each other, and starts to drink heavily. Even the nuns share in a toast. Cornudet is the only traveler not wildly partying, and he leaves the room in a huff towards the end of the night. Mr. Loiseau calls Cornudet’s discontent “very green,” and he tells the others about Miss Rousset’s rejection of Cornudet. The Count and Mr. Carré-Lamadon double over in laughter.
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Later that night, Mrs. Loiseau says to Mr. Loiseau: “some women will take to a uniform, whether it be French or Prussian. It is all the same to them! What a pity!”
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The next morning, the carriage is ready and waiting for the travelers. A cold and sunny day greets nine passengers, all packed and ready to go; the group waits only on Miss Rousset. When she arrives, she looks flustered. She approaches the Countess—and the Count leads his wife away from Miss Rousset immediately. Miss Rousset tries to greet Mrs. Carré-Lamadon but she is met with silence. The group acts as though she is not there, refusing to look in her direction, acting like she has “some infectious disease.”
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The carriage moves towards Le Havre with an atmosphere of cold awkwardness. The Countess turns to Mrs. Carré-Lamadon and, breaking the silence, asks about a society friend of theirs. The women chatter about other ladies, and the married men talk more of money.
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As the nuns lower their heads and pray, the carriage moves on. Mr. Loiseau declares that he is hungry and his wife takes out a large basket of food which they share. The Count and Countess follow suit. Soon nine travelers are all eating the food that they have brought—everybody except Miss Rousset, who forgot to pack since she was in a hurry. Nobody will share—nobody even looks at her. Although she tries desperately to prevent it, Miss Rousset starts to quietly cry.
Mrs. Loiseau mutters that Miss Rousset “weeps for shame.” Then Cornudet begins to hum the French national anthem. The carriage grows dark, as nobody is interested in hearing the song. The carriage rolls on towards Le Havre as Cornudet keeps whistling and Miss Rousset continues to weep.
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