Short Fiction · Chapter
Are We to Teach Latin? explained
The narrator recounts his youth at the Institution Robineau, a boarding school famous for its Latin instruction under the usher M.
What happens
The narrator recounts his youth at the Institution Robineau, a boarding school famous for its Latin instruction under the usher M. Piquedent. Piquedent, a lonely and passionate Latinist, confides his misery to the narrator. The narrator playfully convinces Piquedent that a young laundress is in love with him, leading to a boat outing where the pair impulsively decide to marry. Piquedent is dismissed after the escapade, and years later the narrator finds him happily running a grocery store, having abandoned Latin entirely.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional and psychological peak occurs when Leuillet receives news of Souris’s sudden death and experienc…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Isolation and Loneliness
Piquedent's profound loneliness as an usher with no private life, no key to lock a door, and no escape from constant surveillance.
- Illusion vs. Reality
The narrator's fabricated romance leads Piquedent to believe in a love that initially exists only in pretense, yet it becomes real.
- Social Class and Money
Piquedent's lowly position as an usher with no diploma contrasts with the laundress's poverty; their marriage and grocery store represent a shift in social standing.
Characters to notice
- Guy de Maupassant
The narrator, a young student at the Institution Robineau, who orchestrates the match between Piquedent and the laundress.
- Monsieur Parent
The narrator's father, who places him as a day-boarder at the school and later sends him away after the escapade.
- Irma
The young laundress who becomes engaged to Piquedent and later marries him, running a grocery store together.
Key passages
“I am like an oak in the desert, said he. Sicut quercus in solitudine.”
Piquedent compares his isolation to a lone oak tree in a desert, using Latin to emphasize his solitude.
Highlights Piquedent's loneliness and his habit of mixing Latin into everyday speech.
“A key, the key of a door that I could lock—that would be happiness—the only happiness I want.”
Piquedent longs for a private room he can lock, seeing it as the ultimate happiness he lacks.
Emphasizes the theme of isolation and the desire for personal space.
“Quantum mutatus ab illo!”
The narrator exclaims how much Piquedent has changed from his former self, now a grocer.
Shows the dramatic transformation from Latin scholar to shopkeeper.
“Oh! good heavens, Latin, Latin, Latin! I tell you there's no nourishment in it for a man.”
Piquedent dismisses Latin as useless for making a living, now valuing practical trade.
Reflects the story's critique of classical education versus practical work.
