# The Hermit explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Guy de Maupassant. ## What happens A narrator recounts visiting a hermit living atop the Hill of Serpents near Cannes. The hermit, once a Parisian bachelor, reveals he fled society after discovering that a young woman he casually picked up on his fortieth birthday was his own daughter, a child he had abandoned years before. ## Themes in this chapter ### Isolation and Loneliness The hermit's self-imposed exile on the Hill of Serpents is a direct response to his devastating discovery, highlighting his profound loneliness and disillusionment with society. ### Obsession and Delusion The hermit's past life of casual affairs and his inability to form lasting bonds reflect a delusion of freedom that ultimately leads to his tragic fate. ### Cruelty and Suffering The hermit's unwitting encounter with his own daughter and the subsequent emotional collapse illustrate the cruel consequences of his earlier neglect. ## Character check-ins ### Guy de Maupassant The narrator who visits the hermit and later recounts the hermit's story. ### The Hermit A recluse living on the Hill of Serpents; he tells the narrator the tragic story of his past. ## Key lines > I was one of the thousands of people who let themselves drift through life, like corks, for whom the walls of Paris are the walls of the world, who trouble themselves for nothing, since there is nothing they ardently desire. He describes himself as a passive drifter, content with the superficial pleasures of Parisian life, without any deep passions or commitments. _This self-assessment sets up the hermit's character before the pivotal event._ > I snatched it up to examine it more closely. I'd made no mistake … and I felt like laughing, it struck me as so queer and unexpected. He picks up the daguerreotype and realizes with shock that it is his own portrait, left by the mother of the young woman he has just slept with. _The moment of recognition is the turning point of the story, revealing the incestuous encounter._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-hermit - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters