Dec 21, 2009
Dragons | Dragons
At a glance:
- Author: Julian Barnes
- First Published: 1990
- Type of Plot: Historical
- Time of Work: The late seventeenth century
- Setting: A small village in southern France
- Principal Characters: Pierre Chaigne, Marthe, Anne Rouget, Henri, Daniel, Three unnamed soldiers
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: Family or family life, Parents and children, Traveling or travelers, France or French people, Villages, Rape, Seventeenth century, Christianity, Carpentry or carpenters, Catholics or Catholic Church, Soldiers, Martyrs or martyrdom, Western Europe or western Europeans, Peasantry or peasants, Protestantism or Protestant churches, Persecution, Belief or doubt
- Locales: France
The Story
“Dragons” begins with Pierre Chaigne, a widowed carpenter in a small French
village, constructing a four-sided lantern, including three wooden pieces to be inserted into the
lantern to block out the light except for a single direction. Narrated in the third person, the story
is presented through the thoughts and actions of Pierre.
Pierre reflects that everything bad comes from the north, from the tireless winds to the Beast
of Gruissan, who consumes local livestock. The new threat from the north comes from the
dragons. In spite of the toleration edict...
[The entire page is 1461 words long]
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