Short Fiction · Chapter
Ripe Figs explained
Babette eagerly awaits permission from her godmother, Maman-Nainaine, to visit her cousins on Bayou-Lafourche, a permission tied to the ripening of the figs.
What happens
Babette eagerly awaits permission from her godmother, Maman-Nainaine, to visit her cousins on Bayou-Lafourche, a permission tied to the ripening of the figs. After a long, impatient wait through spring and summer, the figs finally ripen, and Babette presents them to Maman-Nainaine, who grants her leave to go and sends her love to the family, promising to see Tante Frosine at Toussaint.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and the Landscape
The ripening of figs and the changing seasons mark the passage of time and the fulfillment of a promise.
Freedom and Confinement
Babette's confinement to waiting is resolved by the natural ripening of figs, which grants her freedom to travel.
Characters to notice
- Maman-Nainaine
Babette's patient godmother who sets the ripening of figs as the condition for Babette's visit.
- Babette
The restless young girl who eagerly waits for the figs to ripen so she can visit her cousins.
Key passages
“Maman-Nainaine said that when the figs were ripe Babette might go to visit her cousins down on the Bayou-Lafourche where the sugar cane grows.”
Babette's godmother told her she could visit her cousins only after the figs had ripened.
Establishes the central condition of the story.
“But warm rains came along and plenty of strong sunshine, and though Maman-Naiaine was as patient as the statue of la Madone, and Babette as restless as a hummingbird, the first thing they both knew it was hot summertime.”
The season changed with warm rains and sun, and despite their different temperaments, summer arrived before they realized it.
Contrasts the patience of Maman-Nainaine with Babette's restlessness.
“It contained a dozen purple figs, fringed around with their rich, green leaves.”
The platter held twelve ripe figs, decorated with their green leaves.
Babette presents the figs as proof of their ripeness.
“And tell your Tante Frosine I shall look for her at Toussaint—when the chrysanthemums are in bloom.”
Maman-Nainaine sends word that she expects to see Tante Frosine at All Saints' Day, when the chrysanthemums flower.
Ends the story with another seasonal marker, mirroring the opening condition.