“Again they walked along the Boulevard de la Mer towards the breakwater. The child was quick to understand, and was not overly surprised. ‘It’s such a long way,’ he complained—then he resigned himself, and hummed a tune (77).” This demonstrates the idea that the child knows his mother better than anyone else. He realizes that she is going back to see the man again, but also realizes that he can’t do anything about it. He has no choice in this situation so he decides to make the best of it. Although he doesn’t want her to go back, he likes the water and is content to remain outside where he can avoid the awkwardness of their meetings.
“The child was in their wake. He ran to his mother, took her by the hand, and led her resolutely away. She followed him (91).” The closeness of child to his mother is clear in this quote. I think that since the beginning the child has been acting as an adult of sorts. He is verbal about not wanting to learn the piano, where as the teacher gives the impression that her other students go through the lessons without incident, whether they want to be there or not. In this situation he is claiming responsibility for making sure his mother makes it home safely. This quote almost makes it seem like this situation has occurred before.
“He ordered the wine. They drank it together avidly, but this time nothing made Anne Desbaresdes drink except her nascent desire to become intoxicated from the wine (86).” This passage makes me think that Anne realizes that what she is doing is wrong, at least on some level. It used to be that she needed the wine to steady her nerves, but now she just wants to be drunk. It seems that the only way for her to meet with Chauvin is if she has been drinking. Clearly she isn’t comfortable without the aid of alcohol.
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