Short Fiction · Chapter
André’s Disease explained
Mathilde, the wife of a lawyer, has an affair with Captain Sommerive while her husband is away.
What happens
Mathilde, the wife of a lawyer, has an affair with Captain Sommerive while her husband is away. Their secret meetings are repeatedly interrupted by her infant son André's crying. To silence the child, the Captain brutally pinches him, causing bruises. When the husband returns, he discovers the marks on André and blames the nurse, who is dismissed.
Themes in this chapter
Marriage and Domesticity
The affair undermines the marital home, and the child's suffering becomes a secret kept within the family.
Cruelty and Suffering
Captain Sommerive inflicts physical pain on the infant André to silence him, causing visible bruises and trauma.
Gender and Power
Mathilde is caught between her husband's authority and her lover's demands, while the child bears the brunt of male aggression.
Characters to notice
- Madame Lecacheur
Mathilde, the lawyer's wife, who engages in an affair with Captain Sommerive.
- Paul Pavilly
Captain Sommerive, Mathilde's lover, who pinches the child André to silence him.
- Monsieur Parent
The lawyer, Mathilde's husband, who returns from Paris and discovers the bruises on André.
- Simon Bombard
André, the infant son of Mathilde and the lawyer, who is repeatedly pinched by the Captain.
Key passages
“The lawyer’s house looked on to the Square. Behind it, there was a nice, well-kept garden, extending to the Passage des Piques, which was almost always deserted, and from which it was separated by a wall.”
The lawyer's home faced the square and had a tidy garden that reached a quiet alley, separated by a wall.
Sets the scene for the secret meeting.
“He took a small piece of the child’s flesh between his two fingers, no matter where it was, the thighs or elsewhere, and pinched it.”
He grabbed a bit of the baby's skin, wherever he could, and squeezed it hard.
Describes the Captain's cruel method to silence André.
“The child’s calves, thighs, and buttocks were covered with blue spots as big as halfpennies.”
The baby's legs and bottom were marked with bruises the size of small coins.
Reveals the physical evidence of abuse discovered by the father.