# Timbuktu explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Guy de Maupassant.

## What happens

In the golden dusk of a Parisian boulevard, two officers encounter a jubilant, wealthy Negro named Timbuktu, who greets his former lieutenant with delight. The major recounts Timbuktu's service during the Siege of Bézières in the Franco-Prussian War, where the resourceful and loyal soldier led a daring raid, amassed a fortune by looting, and later opened a successful restaurant, embodying a peculiar form of revenge.

## Themes in this chapter

### Obsession and Delusion

Timbuktu's obsessive looting of shiny objects and his delusional triumph in a defeated nation.

### Cruelty and Suffering

The grim realities of war, including starvation, decapitation, and reprisal executions.

### Social Class and Money

Timbuktu's rise from soldier to wealthy restaurateur, challenging social hierarchies.

## Character check-ins

### Guy de Maupassant

Narrator of the story, framing the encounter and the major's tale.

### Duc de Servigny

The colonel who inquires about Timbuktu's identity.

### Walter Schnaffs

Not present; no matching character for the major. Omitted.

## Key lines

> The boulevard, that river of life, swarmed with people in the golden dust of the setting sun.

The bustling boulevard was crowded with people in the golden light of sunset.

_Sets the vibrant Parisian scene._

> Mawnin’, Lieutenant.

Good morning, Lieutenant.

_Timbuktu's cheerful greeting to his former commander._

> Me like you much, Lieutenant Védié, siege of Bézi, we hunt much grapes.

I like you a lot, Lieutenant Védié, from the siege of Bézières, where we hunted grapes.

_Timbuktu recalls their shared war experience._

> Make much money, very much, big rest’rant, good eat, Prussians, me, steal much, very much, F’ench cooking, me get hund’ed thousand f’ancs.

I made a lot of money, a big restaurant with good food, I stole a lot from the Prussians, French cooking, I got a hundred thousand francs.

_Timbuktu boasts of his wartime profiteering._

> If you not keep coat, me cut; nobody have coat.

If you don't keep the coat, I'll cut it so nobody has it.

_Timbuktu's dramatic insistence on giving his coat to the lieutenant._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters/timbuktu
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_23_se/chapters