Chocolat

Roux and various villagers help Josephine do up the café, renamed “Café des Marauds” (324). Luc has moved in with Armande. Caro is upset by this. He says that it’s just until the party, to which he encourages her to come. The chocolaterie is thriving. Reynaud has said that his disapproval was just a rumor. Vianne asks Armande why Reynaud has changed, but she is evasive. Armande doesn’t discuss her plan to stop taking her insulin, instead talking about the extravagant food for her party and reminiscing about a youthful fling. Vianne wishes for a miracle, which comes from her mother’s influence. She remembers her morphine-hazed last weeks. She showed Vianne a folder of newspaper clippings about disappeared or kidnapped children. Vianne interpreted this as worry that Vianne might vanish, but her mother said that she already did. One clipping showed a child named Sylviane who’d now be Vianne’s age, kidnapped in Paris with some toys that Vianne remembers. Vianne wonders if it was another of her mother’s fantasies and questions if it matters after so long. She reads her mother’s tarot cards. The Lovers suggest that Roux and Josephine should be together but that she has a connection with him, too. She feels that the Hermit means that Reynaud will still try to destroy her, and she burns the card. She is torn between feeling in control of her destiny and being pushed into something unintended.

Reynaud feels glad that, on this important day, even usual absentees attend church. He feels needed by his flock and love for them. He thinks that his père suffers partly to protect them from his sins—he had a stroke after Reynaud saw him and his mother, becoming unresponsive. Reynaud believes that he will come back, as he has fasted and prayed. A child asks him about one of Vianne’s stories. He roars in anger, frightening her. He wonders if in the service this evening, people will secretly be thinking about chocolate. He sees the lavish preparations for Armande’s party and berates Guillaume for helping. He thinks that the excess is dangerous for her and inappropriate during Easter.

Everyone prepares for the huge party. Armande has her hair done and has new red accessories. The many guests include the Clairmonts and Roux’s friends, Blanche and Zézette, who stayed nearby in their boat. Everyone dresses up and gives Armande special gifts. Roux and Narcisse bond over growing plums. Guillaume surreptitiously feeds his new dog. Vianne serves many beautiful dishes, though she doesn’t eat much herself. She remembers her mother’s disapproval of such earthly magic, warning her that she’d get fat. They eat late into the night. Afterward, Vianne helps a drowsy Armande prepare for bed, knowing that she has stopped taking her insulin. Armande asks her to stack the gifts where she can see them and sends her away. Downstairs, Vianne and Roux wash up. She feels that she does not really know him and that he belongs with Josephine, but they have sex in the garden. As they watch the night go by, Roux sings the song about setting sail on the wind. Vianne has a premonition of a new presence inside her. When Vianne wakes, Roux has gone.

Reynaud asks his père if he has not done enough penance for their sins. Against medical opinion, he believes that he will wake up. He is furious that Armande died on her own terms last night. He blames Vianne for tempting many souls beyond salvation and himself for failing to prevent it. He plans to break in at night and destroy the chocolate for the festival. He thinks that his père’s fingers twitch and sees it as a sign.

Reynaud barely sleeps, waiting to break in. He dreams of Armande or Vianne wearing red, the people who died in the fire, his père and mother in the chancery, and gorging on chocolate. Waking, he thinks that the penance may be technically over but that he must succeed now so that Jesus will rise. He shuns the pastoral music on the radio and dons a balaclava. At 5:10 am, he enters the unlocked kitchen. He is surprised by its clean orderliness. He is affronted by the bright flowers on the table despite the fact that Armande has just died, throwing them to the ground. He enters the shop and is overwhelmed by the scent of chocolate; he looks at the window display and thinks that he could try a chocolate, as no one will know. He struggles to choose one, realizing that he has not eaten chocolate since he was young. He is overwhelmed by sensation when he bites into one. At 5:45, he tries more, checking that he still has time. He thinks that his work will not take long and keeps taking just one more. At 5:55, he gorges on the chocolates, like in one of his dreams, making sounds as he eats desperately. He imagines Armande haunting him. At 6:00, the Easter bells signify that Jesus “is risen,” and Reynaud comes to himself on the floor, surrounded by chocolates. He realizes that Vianne’s stock is in the cellar and picks up his cudgel, but Vianne is watching him from the doorway, smiling and holding a burnt card. She takes the cudgel from him, and villagers come to help her or stare. Laughter and Easter bells ring through the square.

Reynaud runs away into Les Marauds without saying Mass, so the villagers begin the chocolate festival early instead. Vianne cleans up the window display. The festival is a success. People dance, play music, and set up stalls. The river people return. Vianne imagines Armande everywhere. The sun shines. Later, Vianne is uneasy and misses Armande. Guillaume and his dog visit with a letter from her. He shakes her hand, and they say goodnight. In the letter, Armande gifts her two coins, one for Anouk and one for her next child. She says that she loves them and that they may meet again someday. Instead of going to the funeral, which is Caro’s domain, Armande tells Vianne to gather everyone for chocolate in the chocolaterie. Vianne feels that the wind is blowing her onward again. She thinks that the town no longer needs her—Luc reads Rimbaud without stammering, Guillaume feeds his dog, and Roux and Josephine will make a home together. Without Reynaud, she has no purpose, and other places call to her. She has defeated her fear of the Black Man and said farewell to her mother. She holds Anouk close. She imagines staying and thinks of the new life inside her. Anouk asks her to sing the wind song. She hopes that this time, the wind will move on without them.