Henri
A sewer worker lodging in the narrator's hotel who has stopped speaking, except for the purposes of work, for days at a time.
Before the silence, to buy a taxi, marry the girl and settle down. That was the plan the two of them made while he was in prison. Afterwards he states nothing at all, and answers the only question people ask him with a gesture.
The book
At a glance
- Henri, a sewer worker lodging in the narrator's hotel in the rue du Coq d'Or
- Tall and melancholy, curly hair, long sewer-man's boots
- A chauffeur in good employ, saving money
- None, except for the purposes of work, sometimes for days together
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeGeorge Orwell places Henri among the eccentrics of the rue du Coq d'Or, the Paris slum street where the narrator lodges. He is a tall, melancholy man with curly hair, and Orwell allows that he looks rather romantic in his long sewer-man's boots. His peculiarity is that he does not speak, except for the purposes of work, literally for days together.
The silence is recent. A year before, Henri was a chauffeur in good employ and saving money. Orwell sets down what happened in between as a short sequence of violence, prison and reconciliation, and offers one flat verdict on the result: bad luck seemed to have turned him half-witted in a single day.
How the book draws them
- How the book describes himTall, melancholy and curly-haired, and always in the long boots of his trade. They are the only clothes the book puts him in, and Orwell allows that they made him look rather romantic.
- The silenceHe speaks only for the purposes of work, and can go days at a stretch without saying anything else. Orwell writes that nothing would induce him to talk.
- The one answerAsked why he works in the sewers, he never answers in words. He crosses his wrists to signify handcuffs and jerks his head southward, towards the prison.
- The chauffeurA year earlier he was in good employ and putting money by. He fell in love, the girl refused him, and he lost his temper and kicked her. Being kicked made her fall desperately in love with him. They lived together a fortnight and got through a thousand francs of his savings.
- The knifeWhen she was unfaithful he put a knife into her upper arm and was sent to prison for six months. Orwell records that the stabbing attached her to him more firmly than before, and that the two made up their quarrel and agreed to marry when he came out.
- What he did insteadShe was unfaithful again a fortnight later, and was carrying a child by the time he was released. He did not stab her a second time. He drew out all his savings, drank through them, served another month in prison, and then went to work in the sewers.