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Michaud
Grivet is an older employee at the Orleans Railway, which is where Camille and Laurent work. Camille admires him for making a decent salary, so he invites him to the weekly Thursday gatherings at the Raquin household, where Grivet bores both Laurent and Thérèse with his inane chitchat. When Madame Raquin becomes paralyzed, Grivet boasts that he can tell exactly what she’s thinking. Of course, he’s always wrong about what she wants, which is fortunate for Thérèse and Laurent, since Grivet makes it all but impossible for Madame Raquin to communicate to the others when she discovers that the couple killed Camille.
Grivet Quotes in Thérèse Raquin
The Thérèse Raquin quotes below are all either spoken by Grivet or refer to Grivet. 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:
).
Chapter 27 Quotes
‘It’s perfectly clear, I can guess the whole sentence from the look in Madame’s eye. I don’t need things written out for me on a table, one glance from her is enough. What she meant to say is: “Thérèse and Laurent have taken good care of me.’”
Grivet had reason to feel pleased with his powers of imagination, because this time the whole company agreed with him. The guests began to sing the couple’s praises for having been so kind to the poor lady.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Thérèse Raquin LitChart as a printable PDF.
Grivet Character Timeline in Thérèse Raquin
The timeline below shows where the character Grivet appears in Thérèse Raquin. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...quiet, unintelligent wife, Suzanne, and Camille invites an older coworker at the Orleans Railway named Grivet. Camille knows that Grivet earns 2,100 francs per month, so he treats him with the...
(full context)
...around the small table in the apartment above the shop and playing dominoes while Michaud, Grivet, and Olivier make inane jokes and idle conversation. She finds their company revolting, thinking they’re...
(full context)
Chapter 5
...and they make plans for Laurent to come by after work in the evenings. Then Grivet, Michaud, Olivier, and Suzanne arrive for the weekly game of dominoes, and though they’re hesitant...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...the Raquins’ friends. He thus has to tolerate Michaud’s repetitive stories about police work and Grivet’s long, boring anecdotes about people at the Orleans Railway. As long as Laurent can keep...
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Chapter 10
...night, he and Thérèse listen to Michaud talk about how frequently murder cases go unsolved. Grivet is horrified to hear him say this, finding it terrifying to think that there are...
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Chapter 15
...saving Thérèse and trying to help Camille. While Laurent is there one Thursday evening, Michaud, Grivet, Olivier, and Suzanne all arrive for the weekly gathering. They feel awkward about it but...
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Chapter 24
...some solace, despite the fact that they used to hate sitting around and listening to Grivet or Michaud go on and on about inane subjects. These days, the idle conversation helps...
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...show up to the Thursday night gatherings with bags under their eyes from not sleeping, Grivet jokes about how hard they must be working to have a child.
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Chapter 27
...Everyone stares at her in utter astonishment as she traces letters on the table. But Grivet, who vainly thinks he’s adept at discerning what she wants, keeps interrupting her, so she...
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...no further. Vexed that he was unable to guess what she was going to say, Grivet tries again, claiming it’s obvious that she meant to say: “Thérèse and Laurent have taken...
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