Maria Chapdelaine

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

As New Year’s Day approaches, Maria worries that the bad conditions will prevent the family from being able to attend the midnight mass in Peribonka. Hémon notes that attending the mass is “the natural and strong desire of every French-Canadian peasant” (43), as the coming of the New Year signifies renewal and salvation. In the middle of December, Samuel and Tit’Be try to clear the road, but they are thwarted by a heavy snow.

Maria asks her mother if it is true that repeating a thousand Ave Marias on the day before Christmas will guarantee the granting of a wish and is reassured that it will. On Christmas Eve, Maria spends the day quietly reciting Aves. Madame Chapdelaine speaks wistfully of the mass they are missing, though she is careful not to complain. Samuel blames himself, lamenting that his wife would have been happier with a more settled man. Madame Chapdelaine denies being unhappy, stating that “what the good God does is always right” (44). For the Chapdelaines, life is hard but simple and full of love, guided by “obedience alike to the laws of nature and of the church” (44).