# XIX explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Xavier de Maistre.

## What happens

The narrator reflects on a moment of unjust anger toward his servant Joannetti, who silently endured the reproach despite being owed wages. The narrator realizes his error when he remembers he has not paid Joannetti, and a tear of repentance falls as he wipes his own shoe.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Ordinary as Extraordinary

The mundane act of shoe-brushing becomes a profound moment of moral reflection and repentance.

## Character check-ins

### Joanetti

The servant who silently bears the narrator's unjust anger and is owed wages.

## Key lines

> I took the duster, and daintily wiped my left shoe, on which a tear of repentance had fallen.

The narrator cleans his own shoe, and a tear of regret falls upon it.

_Symbolic act of repentance and self-reflection._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_58_se/chapters/xix
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_58_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_58_se/chapters