Of Human Bondage · Chapter
XXV explained
Philip learns about his French teacher, Monsieur Ducroz, a taciturn and shabby old man who fought with Garibaldi and was involved in revolutionary movements.
What happens
Philip learns about his French teacher, Monsieur Ducroz, a taciturn and shabby old man who fought with Garibaldi and was involved in revolutionary movements. Philip offers him advance payment when he is ill, and later learns that the money saved him from starvation.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Disillusionment
Monsieur Ducroz's life embodies the bitterness of failed revolutionary ideals and the harshness of poverty.
Class and Social Mobility
The contrast between Philip's comfortable life and Monsieur Ducroz's destitution highlights class disparities.
Characters to notice
- Philip Carey
Philip observes his French teacher with curiosity and offers him advance payment out of sympathy.
- Monsieur Ducroz
Philip's French teacher, a former revolutionary who fought with Garibaldi, now old, poor, and taciturn.
Key passages
“The oddest of Philip's masters was his teacher of French. Monsieur Ducroz was a citizen of Geneva. He was a tall old man, with a sallow skin and hollow cheeks; his gray hair was thin and long. He wore shabby black clothes, with holes at the elbows of his coat and frayed trousers. His linen was very dirty.”
Philip's most peculiar instructor was his French teacher, Monsieur Ducroz, a tall, gaunt old man from Geneva, always dressed in worn-out black clothing with frayed trousers and dirty linen.
Introduces Monsieur Ducroz's appearance and poverty.
“If it hadn't been for the money you gave me I should have starved. It was all I had to live on.”
Monsieur Ducroz admits that Philip's advance payment was his only means of survival.
Reveals the depth of Ducroz's poverty and Philip's impact.