The Counterfeiters · Chapter
XIV: Bernard and the Angel explained
Bernard passes his baccalauréat with honors but finds no one to share his joy.
What happens
Bernard passes his baccalauréat with honors but finds no one to share his joy. He encounters an angel who guides him through a series of moral and existential confrontations, including a political meeting where he is pressured to sign a pledge. He refuses, asserting his independence. That night, he wrestles with the angel until dawn, while Boris mourns Bronja's impending death. The next morning, Rachel confronts Bernard about his affair with Sarah.
Themes in this chapter
Freedom and Rebellion
Bernard rejects the political pledge and the call to submit to authority, asserting his independence and self-guidance.
Morality and Corruption
Bernard's guilt over his affair with Sarah and his pity for Rachel highlight moral conflict and the corruption of pleasure.
Youth and Education
Bernard's academic success and his subsequent existential questioning reflect the transition from youth to adult responsibility.
Characters to notice
- Bernard Profitendieu
Passes his baccalauréat, wrestles with an angel, refuses to sign a political pledge, and feels guilt over his affair with Sarah.
- Little Boris
In bed, grieving over Bronja's letter about her illness; prays and sobs quietly while Bernard wrestles with the angel.
- Rachel
Confronts Bernard in the passage the morning after his struggle, her sad voice indicating she knows about his affair with Sarah.
- Sarah Vedel
Mentioned indirectly; Bernard loathes the pleasure he took with her after Rachel's confrontation.
- Little Bronja
Writes a letter to Boris expressing fear that she will not live much longer due to a cough.
Key passages
“Bernard was to experience that morning that for a nature as generous as his, there is no greater joy than to rejoice another being. This joy was denied him.”
Bernard felt that sharing good news with someone else is the greatest joy, but he had no one to tell.
Highlights Bernard's isolation despite his academic success.
“The time has come to do your accounts.”
It is time to evaluate your life and make decisions.
The angel's call for Bernard to take stock of his direction.
“I solemnly pledge myself to. . . . He read it, then looked at the angel and saw that he was smiling; then he looked at the meeting and recognized among the young men present, the schoolfellow whom he had seen just before in the church, burning a candle in gratitude for having passed his examination; and suddenly, further on, he caught sight of his eldest brother, whom he had not seen since he had left home.”
Bernard reads the pledge, sees the angel smiling, and spots his schoolfellow and his estranged brother among the crowd.
The moment of recognition and temptation to conform.
“And all that night, until the breaking of the day, they wrestled.”
Bernard and the angel struggled together from night until dawn.
Symbolic struggle for Bernard's soul and autonomy.