Chapter summary
In the tower of Besançon, Julien Sorel receives Abbé Chélan, brought down from the mountain of Liveru, so aged that he can barely speak, and who returns the five hundred francs for the poor. The visit plunges Julien into a sadness in which he sees death in all its ugliness. Then comes Fouqué, who wants to sell all his property to bribe the jailer and help his friend escape, and his devotion returns to Julien the strength that Chélan's appearance had dulled. The interrogations multiply, and Julien's answers, which keep repeating that he killed with premeditation, do nothing to shorten them, because the judge is above all a formalist. Fouqué seeks out the vicar general, the Abbé de Frilair, who refuses the money for masses and thinks of making Julien a martyr, thereby reconciling himself with the Marquis de La Mole. The only thing Julien fears between himself and death is his father's visit.
Analysis
Fouqué wants to sell all his property and bribe the jailer because his affection is that of someone who acts. Chélan, brought from Liveru, has only his old age to offer, and his visit dampens Julien. Frilair, who is no Valenod, refuses the money for masses and, at the same time, thinks of making Julien a martyr and reconciling himself with the marquis through him. He uses the condemned man as currency.
Chélan arrives from the mountain of Liveru, where he lives in retirement with his nephew. He brings back the five hundred francs that Julien had sent for the poor of Verrières, and he can barely speak. For Julien, it is seeing death in all its ugliness.
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