# LXX explained — Germinie Lacerteux > Chapter companion for Germinie Lacerteux by Edmond de Goncourt. ## What happens Mademoiselle de Varandeuil searches for Germinie's grave in a pauper's cemetery, discovering she was buried without a cross or marker. The chapter contrasts Paris's grandeur with the degrading burial of its poor, describing the crowded, neglected graves and the indifference of the city to those who died in its service. ## Themes in this chapter ### Social Class and Inequality The chapter starkly contrasts the grandeur of Paris with the degrading burial of the poor, emphasizing the city's indifference to those who died in its service. ### Death and Decay Vivid descriptions of the crowded, neglected graves, the rotting coffins, and the pestilential flies underscore the physical decay and lack of dignity in death for the poor. ### Hypocrisy and Secrecy The city's pretense of charity and brotherly love is exposed as hollow, as the poor are buried in shameful corners without even a cross or prayer. ## Character check-ins ### Mademoiselle de Varandeuil Searches the cemetery for Germinie's grave, kneels in the snow between two crosses, and confronts the degrading burial of the poor. ### Germinie Lacerteux Buried without a cross or marker; her grave is identified only by its approximate location between two dates. ## Key lines > All that remained of Germinie should be almost in that spot. That ill-defined space was her ill-defined grave. To pray over her body it was necessary to pray at random between two dates⁠—as if the poor girl’s destiny had decreed that there should be no more room on earth for her body than for her heart! Germinie's grave is so poorly marked that Mademoiselle can only pray in the general area, symbolizing how Germinie was denied space and dignity in both life and death. _Highlights the theme of social class and inequality, as Germinie's burial reflects her marginalized status._ > O Paris! thou art the heart of the world, thou art the great city of humanity, the great city of charity and brotherly love! ... and this is where thou castest those who die in thy service, those who kill themselves ministering to thy luxury... The narrator bitterly contrasts Paris's reputation for compassion with the reality of how it disposes of the poor who sacrificed their lives for the city's prosperity. _Emphasizes the hypocrisy and secrecy theme, exposing the gap between public ideals and private practices._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/germinie_lacerteux_se/chapters/lxx - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/germinie_lacerteux_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/germinie_lacerteux_se/chapters