Germinie Lacerteux · Chapter
XXXVIII explained
Germinie, desperate to obtain twenty francs for Jupillon, struggles with the temptation to steal from Mademoiselle de Varandeuil's locked box.
What happens
Germinie, desperate to obtain twenty francs for Jupillon, struggles with the temptation to steal from Mademoiselle de Varandeuil's locked box. She briefly resists, recalling her past virtue and loyalty, but ultimately succumbs, taking a coin and fleeing into the kitchen.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Secrecy
Germinie's internal battle between her virtuous past and her current desperate act highlights the hypocrisy of her outward loyalty versus her secret theft.
Class and Morality
The chapter explores how economic necessity and class constraints push Germinie toward moral compromise, contrasting her poverty with Mademoiselle's relative wealth.
Characters to notice
- Germinie Lacerteux
Germinie is tormented by the need for twenty francs and wrestles with her conscience before stealing from Mademoiselle's box.
- Mademoiselle de Varandeuil
Mademoiselle is absent during the theft, but her trust in Germinie and the money she left in the box are central to Germinie's internal conflict.
- Adèle
Germinie asks Adèle for a loan, but Adèle has no money to lend.
Key passages
“She put out her hand and turned the key. She stopped; it seemed to her that the intense silence round about was listening to her and looking at her.”
Germinie reached for the key and turned it, but then paused, feeling as though the silence itself was watching and judging her.
This moment captures Germinie's acute awareness of her transgression and the moral weight of her actions.
“She had the little coin in her hand and dared not look at it.”
After taking the coin, Germinie held it but was too ashamed to even glance at it.
This line emphasizes Germinie's guilt and the immediate psychological cost of her theft.