Boule de suif - french

(Original post by tinyperson)
more information please

(Original post by cherryhitchkins)
How do the characters eat

They ate the food Boule de suif had but I can't remember exactly
- i know Loiseau is the one who was staring at the food and started eating when she (BDS) asked is he wanted some

(Original post by Anna Schoon)
You're right that Loiseau starts the communal feast. He had previously also accepted some of Cornudet's rum. He effectively invites the offer by complimenting Boule de Suif on her foresight in bringing a picnic.

Boule de Suif then offers the two nuns some food, which they readily accept, followed by Cornudet.

Loiseau then asks Boule de Suif if she would very kindly give his wife some food.

At this stage, a bottle of wine is opened but as there is only one glass, everyone has to take turns to drink.

Madame Carré-Lamadon then faints and is brought round with a sip of wine. One of the nuns says that she must have fainted from hunger, and Boule de Suif is covered in confusion, saying that she had not dared offer her food to the four "posh" people. Loiseau brushes away her scruples by saying that they're all brothers and everyone must help each other. The ensuing embarrassed silence is broken by the Comte de Bréville who, in the name of all four in his group, accepts the food gratefully.

Common politeness then calls for conversation with Boule de Suif - they can hardly eat her food and not talk to her, after all.

So food - or the absence of it - has provided the catalyst for social intercourse between all the travellers, which would not have happened at all in normal circumstances.

It is really interesting to contrast this scene with the last scene in the story, when everything is the other way around: Boule de Suif hasn't had time to get a picnic together, while the others all have plenty of food. But of course they don't share: not with each other and certainly not with Boule de Suif. Social intercourse has returned to normality and Boule de Suif is ignored in spite of everything she has done for her fellow travellers.