Penguin Island · Chapter
VI: The Seven Hundred Pyrotists explained
The public's aversion to the seven hundred Pyrotists grows, with daily violence against them.
What happens
The public's aversion to the seven hundred Pyrotists grows, with daily violence against them. The Prince des Boscénos, Count Cléna, M. de La Trumelle, and others found an anti-Pyrotist association. General Panther accumulates massive archives of 'proofs' against Pyrot, which Minister Greatauk views with unease, preferring no proofs at all. The association is granted a charter, and a case of mistaken identity leads to Prince des Boscénos punching M. Bazile, thinking he was Colomban, followed by a brawl between patriots and Pyrotists.
Themes in this chapter
Political Corruption and Oligarchy
The anti-Pyrotist association, backed by the government and granted a charter, demonstrates the collusion between political power and mob rule.
Human Folly and Vanity
The mistaken identity and subsequent violence, as well as the absurd accumulation of proofs, highlight human irrationality and vanity.
Satire of Historiography
The massive, fabricated archives of 'proofs' parody how history is constructed from biased and forged documents.
Characters to notice
- Prince des Boscénos
Founder of the anti-Pyrotist association; punches M. Bazile in a case of mistaken identity.
- General Greatauk
Minister of War; expresses unease about the accumulation of proofs against Pyrot, preferring none.
- General Panther
Chief of Staff; accumulates massive archives of proofs against Pyrot with patriotic satisfaction.
- M. Bazile
Secretary of the anti-Pyrotist association; mistakenly attacked by Prince des Boscénos and later by Pyrotists.
- Colomban
Mentioned as the person for whom M. Bazile is mistaken.
- M. de La Trumelle
Co-founder of the anti-Pyrotist association; points out the supposed Colomban to the prince.
- Viscount Cléna
Co-founder of the anti-Pyrotist association.
Key passages
“Every day two or three of them were beaten to death in the streets. One of them was publicly whipped, another thrown into the river, a third tarred and feathered and led through a laughing crowd, a fourth had his nose cut off by a captain of dragoons.”
Daily, several Pyrotists were violently attacked in public: whipped, drowned, tarred and feathered, or mutilated by soldiers.
Illustrates the brutal persecution of the Pyrotists.
“I give you a pearl and you make a mountain out of it. To tell you the truth I am afraid that by wishing to do too well you have done less well.”
Greatauk tells Panther that by adding excessive proofs, he has ruined the simple, perfect case against Pyrot.
Highlights Greatauk's preference for a case with no evidence at all.
“M. Bazile, said he, raising his hat, if I have touched your face with my hand you will excuse me and you will understand me, you will approve of me, nay, you will compliment me, you will congratulate me and felicitate me, when you know the cause of that act. I took you for Colomban.”
Prince des Boscénos apologizes to M. Bazile for punching him, explaining that he mistook him for Colomban.
Shows the prince's absurdly formal apology for a violent mistake.