Short Fiction · Chapter
II: The Crime explained
Julian's parents arrive at the castle seeking their son.
What happens
Julian's parents arrive at the castle seeking their son. Julian's wife welcomes them and puts them to bed. Meanwhile, Julian, tormented by his hunting urges, goes into the forest but fails to kill any animals. Returning home in the dark, he mistakes his sleeping parents for his wife and a lover, and stabs them to death. Realizing his horrific error, he renounces his worldly possessions and leaves to become a pilgrim.
Themes in this chapter
Guilt and Redemption
Julian's entire arc in this chapter is driven by his attempt to avoid the prophecy of parricide through self-restraint, but his failure leads to the murder of his parents, after which he seeks redemption by abandoning his life and becoming a pilgrim.
Death and Mortality
The chapter culminates in the violent, mistaken murder of Julian's parents, with graphic descriptions of their corpses and blood, emphasizing the finality and horror of death.
Suffering and Endurance
Julian's parents endure years of wandering and poverty to find their son, only to be killed by him. Julian himself suffers the psychological torment of his crime and chooses a life of penance.
Characters to notice
- Saint Julian
Julian, tormented by his hunting desires, goes into the forest but fails to kill any animals. Returning home, he mistakenly murders his own parents in their bed.
- Félicité
Not present in this chapter.
- Madame Aubain
Not present in this chapter.
- Herod Antipas
Not present in this chapter.
- Herodias
Not present in this chapter.
- Loulou
Not present in this chapter.
- Virginia
Not present in this chapter.
- Mannaeus
Not present in this chapter.
- Vitellius
Not present in this chapter.
- Madame Lormeau
Not present in this chapter.
- Iaokanann
Not present in this chapter.
- Aulus
Not present in this chapter.
- Victor
Not present in this chapter.
- Monsieur Bourais
Not present in this chapter.
- Phanuel
Not present in this chapter.
- Paul
Not present in this chapter.
- Jacim
Not present in this chapter.
- Colmiche
Not present in this chapter.
- The Marquis de Grémanville
Not present in this chapter.
- Eleazar
Not present in this chapter.
- Liébard
Not present in this chapter.
- Mother Simon
Not present in this chapter.
- Jonathas
Not present in this chapter.
- Agrippa
Not present in this chapter.
- Fabu
Not present in this chapter.
- Marcellus
Not present in this chapter.
- Sisenna
Not present in this chapter.
- Théodore
Not present in this chapter.
- Nastasie Barette
Not present in this chapter.
- The Baron de Larsonnière
Not present in this chapter.
Key passages
“But there was nothing to show the young wife that her husband was their son. They proved it by describing to her the birthmarks he had on his body.”
The old couple identified themselves as Julian's parents by describing his birthmarks to his wife.
Confirmation of the parents' identity through physical marks.
“Flying into an ungovernable passion, he sprang upon them with his drawn dagger, foaming, stamping and howling like a wild beast.”
In a blind rage, Julian attacked the figures in the bed with his dagger, acting like a wild animal.
Julian's violent reaction to the perceived betrayal.
“The dead were buried sumptuously in the chapel of a monastery which it took three days to reach from the castle.”
Julian's parents were given a lavish funeral at a distant monastery.
The formal burial of the parents after the murder.
