Short Fiction · Chapter
Suicides explained
A meditation on suicide, presented through the discovered letter of a man who, after a lifetime of monotonous routine and the painful resurgence of memories triggered by old letters, decides to end his life.
What happens
A meditation on suicide, presented through the discovered letter of a man who, after a lifetime of monotonous routine and the painful resurgence of memories triggered by old letters, decides to end his life. The narrative explores the slow accumulation of small vexations and the disintegration of hope that can lead to such an act, challenging the notion that only great tragedies cause suicide.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Loneliness
The protagonist's profound loneliness is central, as he faces old age with 'nobody near me' and is haunted by memories of a past that no longer exists.
Illusion vs. Reality
The letter describes a 'dream' that lasted a long time, followed by the brutal revelation of life's true meaning, leading to disgust and despair.
Obsession and Delusion
The protagonist's obsessive return to old letters and the overwhelming flood of memories illustrate a delusional fixation on the past that precipitates his final act.
Characters to notice
- Guy de Maupassant
The narrator who presents the letter and reflects on the phenomenon of suicide.
Key passages
“Hardly a day goes by without our reading in some newspaper the following paragraph. “On Wednesday night the people living in No. 40 Rue de ⸻, were awakened by two shots in succession... No cause can be found for his action.””
Almost daily, newspapers report a suicide where a seemingly happy person with no apparent reason takes their own life, leaving a mystery.
Sets up the central puzzle of the story: why do apparently content people commit suicide?
“It reveals none of those great catastrophes which we always expect to find behind these acts of despair; but it shows us the slow succession of the little vexations of life, the disintegration of a lonely existence, whose dreams have disappeared; it gives the reason for these tragic ends, which only nervous and high-strung people can understand.”
The letter does not describe a major disaster but rather the gradual accumulation of life's small annoyances and the crumbling of a solitary life whose illusions have faded, explaining a kind of suicide that only sensitive individuals can comprehend.
Introduces the story's thesis: suicide can stem from cumulative minor frustrations rather than a single catastrophic event.
“For the last thirty years I have been rising at the same hour; and, at the same restaurant, for thirty years, I have been eating at the same hours the same dishes brought me by different waiters.”
For three decades, my daily routine has been identical: waking at the same time and eating the same meals at the same restaurant, served by different waiters.
Highlights the protagonist's crushing monotony, a key factor in his despair.
“Oh! if you cherish life, never disturb the burial place of old letters!”
If you value your will to live, never go through old letters.
A warning about the emotional danger of revisiting the past through preserved correspondence.
“It is all over. I had gone back to the beginning, and suddenly I turned my glance on what remained to me of life. I saw hideous and lonely old age, and approaching infirmities, and everything over and gone. And nobody near me!”
It's finished. After revisiting my origins, I looked ahead to my remaining years and saw only a dreadful, solitary old age, impending frailty, and the end of everything—with no one by my side.
The moment of final realization that precipitates the suicide, emphasizing loneliness and the fear of aging.