The parable of the prodigal son in Maria Chapdelaine

Abstract:Religion plays a significant role in Louis Hémon's Maria Chapdelaine. This article scrutinizes the Parable of the Prodigal Son as an underlying feature of the novel that governs the lives of Maria's three suitors: François Paradis, Lorenzo Surprenant and Eutrope Gagnon. Focusing on the motifs of departure from and staying home, the essay will show that François, Maria's preferred suitor, and Lorenzo, her second choice, are variants of the Prodigal. While the Prodigal in the Biblical text returns home and seeks redemption, in Maria François dies and Lorenzo vows not to return to settle in Quebec. The message of the voices Maria hears is essentially the Parable. Maria, then, rejects the prodigal life outside Quebec and decides to marry Eutrope who resembles the elder son in the Parable. With its emphasis on staying in the province, the novel captures the pulse of the Quebec society in the early twentieth century.