Short Fiction · Chapter
A Vendetta explained
After her son Antoine is murdered by Nicolas Ravolati, the elderly widow Saverini swears a vendetta.
What happens
After her son Antoine is murdered by Nicolas Ravolati, the elderly widow Saverini swears a vendetta. Unable to rely on male relatives, she trains her dog Sémillante to attack and kill a straw dummy baited with black pudding. Once the dog is conditioned, she crosses to Sardinia, finds Ravolati, and sets the starving dog upon him, killing him.
Themes in this chapter
Cruelty and Suffering
The widow's methodical starvation and training of her dog to kill, and the brutal death of Ravolati, highlight extreme cruelty born from grief.
Obsession and Delusion
The widow's single-minded focus on revenge, sleeplessness, and ritualistic training of the dog demonstrate an obsessive, almost delusional pursuit.
Isolation and Loneliness
The widow lives alone with her dog in a remote cliffside house, cut off from community support, and must carry out the vendetta entirely by herself.
Characters to notice
- Old Amable
The widow Saverini, referred to as 'the mother' and 'Mother Saverini', is the protagonist who orchestrates the vendetta.
- Coco
Sémillante, the dog, is trained to kill the murderer.
- Monsieur Parent
Antoine Saverini, the murdered son, is the catalyst for the vendetta.
- Madame Lefèvre
Nicolas Ravolati, the murderer, is the target of the vendetta.
Key passages
“She would have no one stay with her, and shut herself up with the body, together with the howling dog.”
She refused all company and locked herself in with the corpse and the wailing dog.
Shows her immediate withdrawal into solitary grief and determination.
“For three months she trained the dog to this struggle, the conquest of a meal by fangs.”
Over three months, she conditioned the dog to attack and eat a dummy to earn its food.
Highlights the methodical, patient cruelty of her plan.
“The maddened beast dashed forward and seized his throat.”
The frenzied dog lunged and clamped onto his throat.
Climactic moment of the vendetta's execution.