Short Fiction · Chapter
A Million explained
Léopold Bonnin and his wife are modest clerks expecting a million-franc inheritance from a wealthy aunt, but the will stipulates the fortune goes to their firstborn child within three years or to the poor.
What happens
Léopold Bonnin and his wife are modest clerks expecting a million-franc inheritance from a wealthy aunt, but the will stipulates the fortune goes to their firstborn child within three years or to the poor. Their desperate attempts to conceive lead to marital strife, public ridicule at the office, and a fraught reconciliation after the wife becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son named Dieudonné, securing the inheritance.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Money
The entire plot revolves around the pursuit of a million-franc inheritance, exposing how financial desperation corrupts relationships and personal integrity.
Marriage and Domesticity
The Bonnins' marriage is tested by the pressure to conceive, leading to bitter recriminations and a fragile reconciliation after the birth of their son.
Obsession and Delusion
Both husband and wife become obsessively fixated on the inheritance, with their desperation driving them to near-madness and irrational behavior.
Characters to notice
- Monsieur Parent
Léopold Bonnin, a conventional and painstaking government clerk, is the husband whose desperate efforts to conceive for the inheritance nearly ruin his health and marriage.
- Madame Loisel
Madame Bonnin, the wife, is initially placid but becomes bitterly taunting toward her husband over the lost inheritance, eventually becoming pregnant and securing the fortune.
- Cornudet
Frédéric Morel, a colleague known as a roué, teases Bonnin about the inheritance and later becomes a friend of the house, though he is eventually banned after allegedly insulting Madame Bonnin.
- Duc de Servigny
The wealthy aunt, though not named directly, is the source of the million-franc legacy and the will's condition, which drives the plot.
Key passages
“It was a modest clerk’s household. The husband, who was employed in a Government office, was conventional and painstaking, and he always was very careful in the discharge of his duties.”
The story begins in the home of a humble clerk, where the husband, Léopold Bonnin, is a diligent and conventional government employee.
Establishes the setting and character of Léopold Bonnin.
“The wealthy aunt, however, was not to be consoled, and was profuse with practical advice.”
The rich aunt, disappointed by the couple's childlessness, constantly offers them advice on how to conceive.
Highlights the aunt's role in pressuring the couple.
“Finally she died. The young people experienced a delighted relief which they sought to conceal from themselves as well as from the outside world.”
When the aunt dies, the Bonnins feel a secret relief, though they try to hide it from others and themselves.
Reveals the couple's true feelings about the aunt's interference.
“Should the young couple have no offspring within three years, the money was to go to the poor and needy.”
The will stipulates that if the Bonnins do not have a child within three years, the fortune will be donated to charity.
The central conflict of the story: the time-limited condition of the inheritance.
“He persisted in his endeavours for six months, until he was but the shadow of his former self.”
Léopold tries desperately to conceive for six months, exhausting himself to the point of illness.
Shows the physical toll of his obsession.
“And Madame Bonnin never stopped saying over and over again: “Isn’t it dreadful to lose a fortune because one happens to have married a fool!””
Madame Bonnin constantly blames her husband for the potential loss of the inheritance, calling him a fool.
Illustrates the marital tension and blame-shifting.
