# VI: Little Sword in Pocket explained — Notre-Dame de Paris

> Chapter companion for Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/notre_dame_de_paris_se/chapters/vi-little-sword-in-pocket
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/notre_dame_de_paris_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/notre_dame_de_paris_se/chapters