François is the Raquins’ cat. He often watches Thérèse and Laurent as they make love in secret, and though Thérèse thinks it’s funny that the cat knows more about their relationship than Camille and Madame Raquin, Laurent finds the animal’s presence disturbing. After they murder Camille, François is yet another reminder of what they’ve done. In a fit of rage and fear, Laurent grabs François one day and hurls him out the window—the cat breaks his back against the opposite wall of the alley and spends the rest of the night moaning in pain.
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François Character Timeline in Thérèse Raquin
The timeline below shows where the character François appears in Thérèse Raquin. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7
One day, Laurent is unsettled by François, the Raquin family cat. François stares at him and Thérèse, but Thérèse makes a joke...
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Chapter 21
...Worse, they hear a scratching noise that makes them recoil in fear, but it’s just François, the old cat. Laurent becomes convinced that Camille has inhabited the cat, so he quickly...
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Chapter 30
...to shave, his razor hesitating over the bitemark scar. Another thing that bothers him is François, the cat whom he thinks knows all about what he and Thérèse have done. One...
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