Summary of Henri Charriere's Papillon

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 I was tried for murder and acquitted. My lawyer, Raymond Hubert, was confident we would be acquitted. The trial was held in the Palais de Justice de la Seine in Paris.

#2 I was going to be judged for the murder of a pimp and stool pigeon who operated in Montmartre. There was no proof, but the cops were going to insist I was guilty. For lack of proof, they would say they had confidential information that put it beyond the shadow of a doubt.

#3 The French court system was able to convict me of murder, and I was sentenced to life in prison. I did not confess or apologize, but I did say that I was innocent.

#4 I was arrested for life, and when I arrived at the jail, I was handcuffed and sent to the special cell for those sentenced to death, madmen, and the very dangerous. I was alone against the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Feb 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669349822

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights on Henri Charriere's Papillon

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I was tried for murder and acquitted. My lawyer, Raymond Hubert, was confident we would be acquitted. The trial was held in the Palais de Justice de la Seine in Paris.

#2

I was going to be judged for the murder of a pimp and stool pigeon who operated in Montmartre. There was no proof, but the cops were going to insist I was guilty. For lack of proof, they would say they had confidential information that put it beyond the shadow of a doubt.

#3

The French court system was able to convict me of murder, and I was sentenced to life in prison. I did not confess or apologize, but I did say that I was innocent.

#4

I was arrested for life, and when I arrived at the jail, I was handcuffed and sent to the special cell for those sentenced to death, madmen, and the very dangerous. I was alone against the world.

#5

I had a plan, a highly polished aluminum tube that contained 5600 francs in new bills. When I got it, I kissed it. I took a deep breath so that it would lodge in the colon. It was my strongbox. They could make me take off all my clothes, spread my legs apart, make me cough or bend over double, for all the good it would do them.

#6

I spent hours thinking about my revenge. I would kidnap the prosecutor and chain him to the rings in the wall, just like the police chief. I would not harm the jurors, but I would make sure the prosecutor was punished.

#7

The second phase of the French Republic’s machinery was to eliminate a troublesome man. The man must neither die too quickly nor escape by committing suicide. He must be watched, and he must go to the bagne in order to justify the lives of other bureaucrats.

#8

I was now in solitary confinement, and I was not afraid because I had confidence in myself. I was alone in my cell for hours every day, and I had no books or way to get out. But I was still scared of the bagne.

#9

I was in prison with Dega, one of the biggest crooks in France. We had just signed a life-and-death pact when the prosecutor arrived to bring us to justice.

#10

The Chinese invented the drop of water falling on the head. The French invented silence. They suppressed every possible distraction. No books, no paper, no pencil, the window with its thick bars completely covered with planks of wood.

#11

I was arrested and sent to the Conciergerie, where I was clothed in a heavy stiff shirt and a coarse sackcloth jacket and pants. My shoes were taken from me and I was forced to wear sabots.

#12

The prison was a way station while you waited to be sent to the bagne. It was a prison, and silence was required at all times. You were not allowed to lie down, and if you did, you would be punished by sixty days in the dungeon with only bread and water.

#13

I had a butterfly and a bee visit me in prison, which made me feel even more lonely. I was suffocating with loneliness, and I needed to hear a voice or see a face.

#14

I was the last man in a line of eight men waiting to see the doctor. The trusty gave me a sharp kick in the gut, then he went on to flog me with his bull-whip. I was unconscious for two floors, and when I woke up, I was in the dungeon flooded