Short Fiction · Chapter
The Soul of Laploshka explained
The narrator recounts his acquaintance with Laploshka, a miserly yet entertaining man who hoards his money and avoids generosity.
What happens
The narrator recounts his acquaintance with Laploshka, a miserly yet entertaining man who hoards his money and avoids generosity. After tricking Laploshka into paying for his share of a meal, the narrator refuses to repay the two francs, and Laploshka dies of grief. The narrator struggles to dispose of the two francs in a way that would not distress the deceased, first donating it to a church collection for the poor, only to be haunted by Laploshka's ghost. He later retrieves the money and attempts to give it to a wealthy baron, who ultimately donates it to the same poor fund. Laploshka's spirit finally finds peace.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Moral Facade
The narrator's pretense of generosity and the moral dilemma over the two francs highlight the hypocrisy in social and charitable gestures.
The Absurdity of Social Rituals
The elaborate efforts to return the money to the 'deserving rich' and the ghostly haunting satirize the absurdity of social and charitable conventions.
Characters to notice
- Laploshka
A miserly and entertaining man who dies of grief after the narrator refuses to repay two francs. His ghost haunts the narrator until the money is properly bestowed.
- Clovis Sangrail
The narrator of the story, who tricks Laploshka into paying for a meal and later struggles to dispose of the two francs in a way that satisfies Laploshka's spirit.
Key passages
“He said horrid things about other people in such a charming way that one forgave him for the equally horrid things he said about oneself behind one’s back.”
Laploshka's witty insults were so delightful that people overlooked his backbiting.
Describes Laploshka's entertaining yet malicious nature.
“I have known him indulge in agonies of perjury rather than admit the incriminating possession of a copper coin when change was needed to tip a waiter.”
He would rather lie than part with a small coin for a tip.
Illustrates Laploshka's extreme miserliness.
“To have killed Laploshka was one thing; to have kept his beloved money would have argued a callousness of feeling of which I am not capable.”
The narrator feels guilty for causing Laploshka's death and cannot bear to keep his money.
The narrator's moral conflict after Laploshka's death.
“I dropped Laploshka’s two francs into the bag with a murmured blessing on the rich of Monsieur le Curé.”
He donated the money to a church collection for the poor, ironically blessing the rich.
The narrator's first attempt to dispose of the money.
“The Schnitzel turned to leather in my mouth, the beer seemed tepid; I left the Emmenthaler untasted.”
The sight of Laploshka's ghost ruined his meal.
The narrator's discomfort when haunted by Laploshka.
“I had withdrawn Laploshka’s two francs from the poor, who should never have had that legacy.”
He retrieved the money from the church collection, believing the poor were not entitled to it.
The narrator's decision to reclaim the money.