The Wolf-Leader · Chapter
The Boy at the Mill explained
Thibault, hiding his single red hair, sets out to visit the widow Polet at her mill.
What happens
Thibault, hiding his single red hair, sets out to visit the widow Polet at her mill. He meets his cousin Landry, who is lovesick and melancholy. At the mill, Thibault observes the widow's attention to Landry and grows jealous, vowing to use the black wolf's power to remove his rival. As he makes a wish, soldiers appear, foreshadowing Landry's enlistment.
Themes in this chapter
Deal with the Devil
Thibault invokes the black wolf to manipulate events, showing his reliance on the pact.
Jealousy and Obsession
Thibault's jealousy of Landry's apparent favor with Madame Polet drives him to seek supernatural intervention.
Characters to notice
- Thibault
Hides his red hair and visits the mill, plotting to win Madame Polet and remove Landry.
- Landry
Cousin of Thibault, head boy at the mill, deeply in love with Madame Polet and saddened by his situation.
- Madame Polet
The widow who owns the mill, shows favor to Landry but also welcomes Thibault.
- Satan
Implied as the black wolf, Thibault calls upon him to arrange Landry's removal.
Key passages
“Finding it impossible either to cut off or pull out the accursed hair, the only thing left for Thibault to do was to hide it as well as he could, by bringing the other hair over it;”
Thibault couldn't remove the red hair, so he tried to conceal it with his other hair.
Thibault's attempt to hide the mark of his pact.
“But, you see, instead of corn, it is my heart that is in the mill, and the mill works so well and so incessantly, and my heart is so ground between the stones that there is nothing left of it but a little powder.”
Landry says his heart is being ground like grain, leaving only dust.
Landry's lovesickness is expressed through a mill metaphor.
“Black wolf,” he said, “arrange matters in such a way, that without any accident or harm happening to my Cousin Landry, I may get rid of him.””
Thibault asks the black wolf to remove Landry without causing him harm.
Thibault's wish to eliminate his rival, leading to Landry's enlistment.