Rough-Hew Them How We Will explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Money and Financial Struggle

  Paul's eighteen-shilling weekly wage and his dream of selling his painting to escape poverty drive the chapter's conflict.

• Identity and Self-Improvement

  Paul lives a double life as a waiter and artist, striving to transcend his circumstances through his painting.

• Love and Marriage

  Paul's romantic pursuit of Jeanne is intertwined with his financial aspirations, as he hopes to marry her after selling his picture.

Characters to notice

• Paul Boielle

  A waiter at Bredin's Parisian Café who is also a painter; he dreams of selling his masterpiece to marry Jeanne.

• Jeanne Le Brocq

  A slow-moving Norman waitress at the café; Paul's love interest, initially scornful but intrigued by his artistic prospects.

• M. Bredin

  The porcine owner of the Parisian Café; he insults Jeanne, prompting Paul to defend her.

• Mr. Parsons

  A customer who sides with Paul after the altercation with Bredin.

Key passages

• “Paul Boielle was a waiter. The word “waiter” suggests a soft-voiced, deft-handed being, moving swiftly and without noise in an atmosphere of luxury and shaded lamps. At Bredin’s Parisian Café and Restaurant in Soho, where Paul worked, there were none of these things; and Paul himself, though he certainly moved swiftly, was by no means noiseless.”

  Paul Boielle worked as a waiter at Bredin's Parisian Café in Soho, but the job was far from the refined, quiet service one might imagine; he was loud and rushed.

  Introduces Paul's chaotic work environment and his contrasting demeanor.

• “Paul got eighteen shillings. What a blessing is poverty, properly considered. If Paul had received more than eighteen shillings a week he would not have lived in an attic. He would have luxuriated in a bed-sitting-room on the second floor; and would consequently have missed what was practically a genuine north light.”

  Paul earned only eighteen shillings a week, but his poverty forced him to live in an attic with a skylight that provided ideal lighting for his painting.

  Highlights the ironic advantage of Paul's low wages for his artistic pursuits.

• ““My angel,” said Paul, “he is a pig.” This was perfectly true. No conscientious judge of character could have denied that Paul had hit the bull’s eye. Bredin was a pig.”

  Paul called the café owner a pig, and the narrator confirms that this was an accurate description.

  Shows Paul's defense of Jeanne and the narrator's comedic endorsement.