Chapter 29: The Birth and Death of Auguste's Son

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

After experiencing labour pains, the narrator gives birth to a boy with Damienne's help. The infant is named Auguste after his father. Despite eating a porridge Damienne makes from the last oats, the narrator produces little milk. Desperate to feed her child, she ventures out while still bleeding and fishes with the afterbirth as bait. She catches one cod after losing a hook, but her milk remains scant. The baby weakens and eventually stops breathing. The narrator breaks Auguste's cittern, uses its soundbox as a cradle, and buries the infant under rocks in a trunk. She refuses food and comfort, grieving and questioning why her son was born if he was only to die.

Key Events

The narrator experiences labour pains and gives birth to a son with Damienne's assistance.
Damienne delivers the child, cuts the cord with sewing scissors, and wraps the infant in a piece of bearskin.
The narrator names the baby Auguste and tries to nurse him, but has almost no milk.
Damienne boils the remaining oats into gruel; the narrator eats ravenously but still lacks milk.
The narrator goes hunting and fishing despite severe blood loss, using the afterbirth as bait.
She loses a hook when a fish breaks her line, but later catches a cod after praying.
Even after eating fish, the narrator's milk supply does not improve; the baby grows weaker.
The infant dies in the night; Damienne says he was not meant to live, but the narrator disagrees.
The narrator breaks Auguste's cittern and makes a cradle from its soundboard, placing the baby inside.
She buries the child in a trunk under rocks and stands guard with a gun; afterward she refuses to eat or let Damienne touch her.

Character Development

The narrator shifts from a hopeful new mother to a grieving woman who questions God's purpose. Her determination to hunt and fish shows fierce maternal instinct, but her inability to produce milk leads to despair. After the baby's death, she becomes withdrawn and refuses comfort, breaking the cittern as a symbolic act.
Damienne acts as midwife and caregiver, delivering the child and later trying to console the narrator. Her faith in divine mercy contrasts with the narrator's raw grief; she suggests the baby is now an angel, a view the narrator rejects.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Starvation and sacrifice dominate the chapter: the narrator eats the last food, then risks her life to fish, but her body cannot sustain the infant.
The afterbirth as bait is a stark symbol of life feeding on death; the narrator uses the remnants of childbirth to try to preserve her baby.
The cittern (Auguste's instrument) represents art and memory; breaking it to fashion a coffin shows how grief can destroy what was once precious.
Religious questioning emerges when the narrator challenges Damienne's assurance that the baby is better off in heaven, insisting he was meant to live.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter delivers the novel's most devastating loss. The birth and death of Auguste's son force the narrator to confront the limits of her survival skills and the cruelty of nature. Her rejection of Damienne's pious explanation deepens her isolation and sets the stage for further trials. The destruction of the cittern marks a turning point in her relationship with memory and hope.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does the narrator use the afterbirth as fishing bait, and what does this act reveal about her state of mind? She uses the afterbirth because she has no other bait; it is the only organic material available. This reveals her extreme desperation and willingness to use even the remnants of childbirth to feed her infant. It also underscores the grim reality that survival often requires turning life's byproducts into sustenance.

2. How does Damienne interpret the baby's death, and why does the narrator reject that interpretation? Damienne says the child was not meant to live and is now an angel in heaven with his father. The narrator rejects this because she believes her son was born to grow and live; she blames starvation, not divine will, for his death. Her anger reflects a crisis of faith and a refusal to accept comfort that denies the tragedy.

3. What is the significance of the narrator breaking Auguste's cittern to make a cradle? Breaking the cittern symbolizes the destruction of her connection to her dead husband and the end of hope for a future together. By repurposing the instrument as a coffin, she transforms a tool of art and memory into a vessel for grief—her only way to honor her son in the absence of proper burial rites.