Notre-Dame de Paris · Chapter
VI: Little Sword in Pocket explained
Gringoire escapes the Bastille and meets a cloaked figure at the Baudoyer gate.
What happens
Gringoire escapes the Bastille and meets a cloaked figure at the Baudoyer gate. The figure, revealed to be Claude Frollo, impatiently demands the password for the outcasts. Gringoire provides it ('Little sword in pocket'), and Frollo reveals he has keys to Notre-Dame and a boat for escape. They hurry toward the city to reach the cathedral before the outcasts' attack.
Themes in this chapter
Fate and Destiny
Gringoire attributes his narrow escape from hanging to his 'predestination,' highlighting the theme of inescapable fate.
Characters to notice
- Pierre Gringoire
Narrowly escapes hanging and meets Claude Frollo at the Baudoyer gate, providing the password 'Little sword in pocket.'
- Dom Claude Frollo
Impatiently awaits Gringoire, possesses keys to Notre-Dame and a boat, and leads the way to the cathedral.
Key passages
“On emerging from the Bastille, Gringoire descended the Rue Saint-Antoine with the swiftness of a runaway horse.”
After leaving the Bastille, Gringoire hurried down Rue Saint-Antoine as fast as a galloping horse.
Emphasizes Gringoire's urgent escape from the Bastille.
“I always just miss being hung. 'Tis my predestination.”
I keep narrowly avoiding execution; it must be my fate.
Gringoire's fatalistic view of his repeated brushes with death.
“Little sword in pocket.”
The password is 'Little sword in pocket.'
The password needed to pass through the outcasts' barricades.