Perestroika In Paris

Chapter 15 contains a lot of foreshadowing for events that follow in the last part, indicating the downward arc of the novel’s narrative at this point. The first event foreshadowed is Madame’s death. When she sits down for another evening of knitting, Madame notes that her afghan is “almost complete” and that “her wool was running low—she could feel only three small balls” (216). As the balls of yarn run low, so does Madame’s time among the living. However, Madame has not yet made plans for Etienne when she passes, and, at the moment, there is no clear plan for where he will go. Another event foreshadows his fate after her death—Raoul’s most extensive flight. Raoul flies to an unknown part of Paris, which Smiley reveals as the racecourse at which Paras started her journey. While there, he encounters Sid, but it “was not the Sid Raoul thought he knew, the screaming, panicked fellow who preened until half of his feathers were plucked. This Sid was easygoing and good-humored, a comfortable member of his cohort” (220). Sid’s transformation and Raoul’s flight to the racecourse” work together to foreshadow Para’s return to her former life as a racehorse; however, Sid’s transformation foreshadows and symbolizes that her return will be different from when she left because she will not be the same horse who left her stall that night.

The narrative closes by bringing the themes of The Bonds Between Humans and Animals and The Universal Longing for Freedom and Belonging to a close. Since Madame has no plans for Etienne after she passes, Paras takes it upon herself, alongside Raoul and Frida, to make a plan for him. That night, each animal—Kurt, Raoul, and Paras, first—spends the night inside with Etienne. For the first time, Frida also comes in, “her tail down, her ears down, half slinking, a sad but determined look on her face” (240). Despite her fears of confinement, Frida’s willingness to enter the de Mornay residence shows the bond she has formed with Etienne and is part of the novel’s positive message of trust and cooperation. Frida has not bonded with a human since Jacques, and entering the house for Etienne completes her character arc growth as she learns to trust and accept another human.

When the animals flee with Etienne the next morning, Paras follows the path she took into the city back to the racecourse. Following her same path back could symbolize regression, but Smiley prevents this because Paras returns with others now. Rather, the return journey highlights the significance of the events between these narrative points and prompts comparison. When Paras left, she was exploring alone until she found Frida; now, she returns with new bonds and new friends, ready to return to her old life without the naivety and passiveness that identified her character before.

In her final moments, Paras remembers “one horse—‘Independence’ was his name—who raced until he was ten, seventy-four starts, two track records. [...] Independence, Paras thought. A wonderful name, a name to remember” (264). Paras's reflection on the horse named Independence brings closure to the theme of The Universal Longing for Freedom and Belonging. No longer does Paras desire freedom—she found her freedom and now not only belongs in the racecourse but also belongs among her friends. The bonds she formed freed her more than her exploration and venturing into the outside world because she now feels freer than she was before, though she is back in the same circumstances. She also no longer worries about her age catching up to her. Where Madame and Raoul age and fear becoming older, Paras closes the novel knowing she is still relatively young and has much life to live; this adds a final moral to Smiley’s tale that mortality is unavoidable and can be countered only by living well and with curiosity.