Exploitation and Class Hierarchy Theme Analysis

The beginning of “Boule de Suif” is tepidly optimistic about class mobility. While the ten French travelers sharing a carriage adhere to their society’s strict class hierarchy, the lowest among them—the plucky and defiant Miss Rousset—nevertheless earns the grudging admiration of the others. For a moment, it seems that she might be included in higher society by sheer force of personality. However, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that the class hierarchy will not be bent. The wealthy include Miss Rousset when she can be useful to them, manipulate her into a devastating decision that benefits them, and then discard her when she is no longer of use. By showing the wealthy exploiting a poor and vulnerable woman so ruthlessly, Maupassant suggests that class mobility is an illusion, and that the exploitation of the poor for the benefit of the rich is at the very heart of class hierarchy.

The prostitute, Miss Rousset, begins the story passionate, resourceful, and defiant, giving the impression that her inferior class position does not define her. While one might expect that Miss Rousset would be shy in the presence of wealthier companions, she “[thows] her neighbors…a provoking, courageous look” when she hears them whispering belittling things about her. This stuns them all into silence, which suggests that her fortitude might change their behavior. Additionally, when Miss Rousset speaks up about political issues in the carriage, her courage earns the admiration of some of her companions. The wealthy women “[feel] themselves drawn, in spite of themselves, toward this prostitute so full of dignity.” In this moment, Maupassant leads the reader to believe that perhaps the force of Miss Rousset’s personality will transcend her class, convincing others to treat her as an equal. This seems, for a moment, to be possible when the German officer first proposes that Miss Rousset sleep with him in exchange for the group’s freedom. Initially, “indignation is rife” among the group, and there is a “blast of anger, a union of all for resistance, as if a demand had been made on each one of the party.” In this fleeting moment of solidarity, it seems that Miss Rousset’s wealthier companions see their fates and interests as shared, despite Miss Rousset’s lower class status.

Quickly, though, the wealthy close rank, deciding to make Miss Rousset sleep with the officer in order to protect themselves. The morning after their show of solidarity, “it [becomes] apparent that a coldness had arisen toward Ball-of-Fat.” The travelers all resent the very determination and defiance that just days before they had admired. Hypocritically, they now wish to tame that defiance to serve their own desires. To manipulate her into doing as they wish, the group attempts to reason with her while simultaneously isolating her. The women take to calling her “mademoiselle” instead of “madame” to show their disdain for her refusal to do the group’s bidding. Meanwhile, the wealthiest traveler, the Count, asks Miss Rousset “you prefer to leave us here, exposed to…violences…rather than consent to a favor which you have so often given your life?” reminding her of her inferior social position and framing her resistance as immoral. The group’s crowning achievement is creating an explicit “plan of attack, [a] ruse to employ” to manipulate Miss Rousset into sleeping with the officer. They pretend they’re having a regular conversation in front of Miss Rousset, while steering the discussion towards ethics and making the pointed suggestion that “any action blamable in itself often becomes meritorious by the thought it springs from” (in other words, that a seemingly immoral act is moral if done for the right reasons, or that the ends justify the means). The group pretends that they are allowing Miss Rousset to make up her own mind, but truly they are telling her that she must make the choice to harm herself for the collective good. After this, Miss Rousset caves.

Miss Rousset’s sacrifice earns the French travelers their freedom, but it does not earn Miss Rousset an equal place among them; in fact, as they travel home, the others treat her coldly and she is devastated by shame. The ending, then, makes it clear that Miss Rousset was exploited: she made a horrific choice for the benefit of a group to which she presumably believed she now belonged. In the aftermath, though, it becomes clear that her companions—despite her sacrifice on their behalf—have no plans to reward or include her, even with the basic kindness of sharing their food. As the wealthier members of the traveling party stand in for French elites overall, this ending can be seen as a commentary on the predatory nature of rigid class hierarchy, which offers the false promise of social mobility so that the poor are willing to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of the wealthy.