Moderato Cantabile III

“Anne Desbaresdes did not go in, but paused at the door of the café. Chauvin came over to her. When he reached her she turned towards the Boulevard da la Mer… Chauvin raised his head towards the dark blue sky, which was still faintly lighted, and moved closer. She did not move back (99).” I think this foreshadows the end of their relationship. Anne has never hesitated before entering the café. She has needed to drink wine upon entering the room; she has always gone in without Chauvin coming to the door to get her. Before this moment it seemed like Anne craved his attention and seemed to be more herself whenever he moves closer to her—she would move in closer. In this instance it seems like Anne is trying to create a distance between her and Chauvin.

“When he told her to leave she always obeyed. She slept under the trees, or in the fields, like… When he called her she came back. And when he told her to go, she left. To obey him like that was her way of hoping. And even when she reached the threshold she waited for him to tell her to come in (104).” This quote is talking about the dead woman and the man who killed her. I thought that this could also be applied to Chauvin and Anne. Anne stood at the threshold of the café until Chauvin met her and led her to the table. Within a few paragraphs of this revelation, Chauvin says “‘I’d like you to leave’… Chauvin remained seated, overwhelmed, no longer aware of her (104).” This demonstrates a shift in their relationship. Before he was implying that he wanted Anne to stay longer so she remained. When he tells her to leave, she gets up, but doesn’t leave until her son leads her out of the building.

“‘She will never speak again,’ she said. ‘Of course she will. Suddenly one day, one beautiful morning, she’ll meet someone she knows and won’t be able to avoid saying good morning. Or she’ll hear a child singing, it will be a lovely day and she’ll remark how lovely it is. It will begin again.’ ‘No’ (116).” This except follows a conversation Anne and Chauvin were having about the dead woman. This is interesting because it seems like Anne was still talking about the dead woman and Chauvin begins to speak about Anne. Not only is he telling her their relationship is over, he is telling her that she’s going to go through this same situation again. He’s telling her that she isn’t happy and this is the only way she knows to try to be happy. Anne isn’t thrilled at his declaration, but he doesn’t pay attention to her any longer.