# XXXIV explained — Sir Percy Hits Back

> Chapter companion for Sir Percy Hits Back by Baroness Orczy.

## What happens

Fleurette is brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal, where she is shocked to find Bibi (Chauvelin) presiding as judge. The courtroom is filled with a hostile crowd that boos and hisses at the prisoners. Fleurette tries to maintain her composure, but the oppressive atmosphere and the sight of Bibi's stern demeanor shake her faith in him. After fainting from the heat and tension, she is called to the stand under the name 'Fleur Chauvelin, nommée Armand.'

## Themes in this chapter

### Revolutionary Tyranny and Injustice

The tribunal is depicted as a mob-driven spectacle where the accused are presumed guilty and the crowd's hostility dictates the atmosphere, highlighting the injustice of revolutionary justice.

### Innocence and Corruption

Fleurette's innocent trust in Bibi clashes with his corrupt role as a harsh judge, symbolizing the corruption of once-caring figures by the revolutionary system.

## Character check-ins

### Fleurette

Brought before the tribunal as a prisoner, she struggles to reconcile the stern judge with her beloved Bibi.

### Citizen Chauvelin

Presides as president of the tribunal, speaking cruelly to the accused, unrecognizable to Fleurette as her chéri Bibi.

## Key lines

> The first thing that struck Fleurette’s perceptions when she entered that huge room, was that up at the further end of it—upon a raised platform and behind a tall desk, sat Bibi chéri himself.

Upon entering the vast chamber, Fleurette immediately noticed Bibi seated on a raised platform behind a tall desk.

_Fleurette's shock at seeing Bibi as the judge._

> And through the noise, the cries and the hisses, the questions and answers, the one sound that was never drowned, and never was still, was the click-click of hundreds of knitting needles.

Amidst all the chaos, the constant sound of knitting needles clicking was never silenced.

_The persistent knitting symbolizes the crowd's detached cruelty._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sir_percy_hits_back_se/chapters/xxxiv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sir_percy_hits_back_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sir_percy_hits_back_se/chapters