Short Fiction · Chapter
What the Colonel Thought explained
Colonel Laporte, an old veteran, recounts a story from the Franco-Prussian War where his exhausted detachment, facing certain death in a snowstorm, is reinvigorated after rescuing a young girl and her father.
What happens
Colonel Laporte, an old veteran, recounts a story from the Franco-Prussian War where his exhausted detachment, facing certain death in a snowstorm, is reinvigorated after rescuing a young girl and her father. The soldiers carry her on a litter, and their morale is restored. They later ambush and kill a dozen Prussian Uhlans, and the girl's presence inspires a patriotic fervor, leading one soldier to shout 'Vive la France!' The Colonel argues that the love of women is a uniquely French trait that can inspire courage and heroism.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Desire
The colonel argues that the love of women is a driving force for Frenchmen, capable of inspiring courage and heroic deeds, as seen when the soldiers are motivated to carry the young girl.
Cruelty and Suffering
The story depicts the extreme physical suffering of the soldiers from cold, hunger, and exhaustion, as well as the violence of the ambush where twelve Uhlans are killed.
Gender and Power
The young girl's presence empowers the soldiers, reversing their despair; the colonel suggests that a woman's influence can command men to action, even in war.
Characters to notice
- Colonel Laporte
The narrator and protagonist of the story, an old colonel who reminisces about a wartime experience as a captain.
- Guy de Maupassant
The author, who frames the colonel's tale within the narrative.
Key passages
“I’m an old man now, but, damme, if a woman, a pretty woman, ordered me to go through the eye of a needle, I believe I’d jump into it like a clown through a hoop.”
Even in his old age, the colonel claims he would do anything for a pretty woman, no matter how absurd.
Establishes the colonel's lifelong devotion to women and sets up the theme of love as a motivator.
“The snow buried us alive, so to speak, powdering caps and capes without thawing upon them, making phantoms of us, as though we were the ghosts of soldiers dead of weariness.”
The heavy snow covered the soldiers, making them look like ghostly figures, exhausted to the point of death.
Vividly describes the dire physical state of the troops and the harsh environment.
“Come on, you fellows, we must carry the young lady, or damn me if we're decent Frenchmen.”
A soldier named Slim Jim insists they must carry the girl, appealing to their national pride.
Shows how the presence of a woman inspires the soldiers to act selflessly and with renewed energy.
“I felt as though we had just saved the country, had done something which other men would not have done, something simple, something truly patriotic.”
The colonel felt a deep sense of patriotic accomplishment from rescuing the girl and defeating the Prussians.
Highlights the emotional and nationalistic impact of the event on the colonel.