# Alphonse Laballière — Short Fiction character guide

> Alphonse Laballière in Short Fiction by Kate Chopin.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Alphonse Laballière, Mr. Laballière, Laballière

**First appearance:** 0029-at-the-cadian-ball

## Snapshot

A quick-tempered planter who takes up residence in a freedman's cabin rather than evict its family, he invites scandal by breakfasting with the Giestins.

## Who they are

When Alphonse Laballière inherits his neglected plantation, he refuses to displace the free mulatto family living in the dilapidated house and instead installs himself in a cabin nearby, taking his meals with them. Town gossip twists his decency into something shameful, and his distressingly quick temper answers the rumor by pulling the Giestins to his own table. His stubborn independence and his refusal to observe the parish's racial lines make him a target and a puzzle in a community that prefers its hierarchies undisturbed.

## In the story

### [In and Out of Old Natchitoches](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/chapters/in-and-out-of-old-natchitoches)

New cotton planter in Natchitoches; he is the subject of gossip for associating with free mulattoes and provokes Suzanne by enrolling André Giestin.

### [At Chênière Caminada](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/chapters/at-ch-ni-re-caminada)

Alphonse Laballière is involved in the chapter's events, representing the intersection of mainland and island life.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/characters/alphonse_laballiere
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_33_se/characters