# The Orphan explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Guy de Maupassant. ## What happens Mademoiselle Source, a lonely, disfigured woman, adopts an orphan boy out of pity and a desire for companionship. She raises him with tenderness, but as he grows into a quiet, bookish youth, his behavior becomes increasingly strange and unsettling. He stares at her obsessively, refuses to communicate, and fills her with a nameless dread. She confides in her relatives, who dismiss her fears, and secretly arranges to move to town. On the night she returns from signing the contract, she is found murdered with her throat cut. The orphan is arrested but acquitted due to an alibi; he inherits her property and eventually wins back the community's trust, becoming mayor. ## Themes in this chapter ### Isolation and Loneliness Mademoiselle Source's deformity and spinsterhood isolate her, driving her to adopt the orphan for companionship, yet her loneliness deepens as the boy's behavior becomes alienating. ### Obsession and Delusion The orphan's obsessive staring and Mademoiselle Source's growing, unfounded terror illustrate a mutual, destructive fixation that culminates in tragedy. ## Character check-ins ### Mademoiselle Source The protagonist, a lonely, disfigured woman who adopts an orphan and becomes increasingly terrified of his strange behavior before being murdered. ### The Orphan The adopted boy, who grows into a quiet, obsessive young man, is suspected of murdering his benefactor but is acquitted and inherits her property. ## Key lines > Mademoiselle Source had adopted the boy under very sad circumstances. At the time, she was thirty-six years old, and her deformity (when a little girl she had slipped from her nurse’s knee into the fire, and her face had been horribly burnt and was a terrible sight) had determined her not to marry, for she did not want to be married for her money. Mademoiselle Source, disfigured by a childhood burn, chose not to marry for fear of being valued only for her inheritance, and instead adopted an orphan boy out of compassion. _Establishes the protagonist's backstory and motivation for adoption._ > She often took him on her knee and fondled him, murmuring words of passionate tenderness. She used to call him 'my little flower, my cherub, my darling angel, my precious jewel,' to all of which he was gently submissive, laying his head on the old maid’s shoulder. She showered the boy with affectionate nicknames and physical tenderness, which he accepted meekly. _Highlights the initial warmth of their relationship._ > He was quite closed to outer influences, impenetrable, a prey to some constant mental ferment, both active and dangerous. The young man became inwardly absorbed and unresponsive, harboring a mysterious and potentially threatening inner turmoil. _Describes the orphan's disturbing transformation._ > The orphan was arrested. Since his adopted mother’s death he had done nothing but weep, plunged, at least to all appearances, in the deepest woe. He was able to prove that he had spent the evening up to eleven o’clock in a café; he had been seen by ten people who had been there until he left. The orphan was taken into custody but appeared grief-stricken, and his alibi—being in a café with multiple witnesses—secured his acquittal. _Details the aftermath of the murder and the orphan's exoneration._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/the-orphan - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters