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Alcée Laballière
Bobinôt is an Acadian farmer who is desperately in love with Calixta. Certain descriptions in the story indicate that he appears to be rather coarse and awkward: he is “dull-looking and clumsy,” and at the ball, Calixta compares him to “Ma’ame Tina’s cow in the bog.” However, Bobinôt is good-natured. He takes Calixta’s insult in stride and even laughs along with the others at his expense. Bobinôt did not initially intend to go to the ball. However, after hearing that Alcée was to be in attendance, he changes his mind and decides to go to protect Calixta, as “a drink or two could put the devil in [Alcée’s] head […] a gleam from Calixta’s eyes, a flash of her ankle, a twirl of her skirts could do the same.” Bobinôt is the character who endures the least change in the story in terms of romantic interest: he loves Calixta from beginning to end. Fortunately for Bobinôt, Calixta reluctantly accepts his advances at the end of the story, and he is elated.
Bobinôt Quotes in At the ’Cadian Ball
The At the ’Cadian Ball quotes below are all either spoken by Bobinôt or refer to Bobinôt. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
At the ’Cadian Ball
Quotes
Her eyes,—Bobinôt thought of her eyes, and weakened,—the bluest, the drowsiest, most tantalizing that ever looked into a man’s; he thought of her flaxen hair that kinked worse than a mulatto’s close to her head; that broad, smiling mouth and tiptilted nose, that full figure; that voice like a rich contralto song, with cadences in it that must have been taught by Satan, for there was no one else to teach her tricks on that ’Cadian prairie. Bobinôt thought of them all as he plowed his rows of cane.
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That was an excellent thrust at Bobinôt, who had forgotten the figure of the dance with his mind bent on other things, and it started a clamor of laughter at his expense. He joined good-naturedly. It was better to receive even such notice as that from Calixta than none at all.
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Bobinôt Quotes in At the ’Cadian Ball
The At the ’Cadian Ball quotes below are all either spoken by Bobinôt or refer to Bobinôt. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
At the ’Cadian Ball
Quotes
Her eyes,—Bobinôt thought of her eyes, and weakened,—the bluest, the drowsiest, most tantalizing that ever looked into a man’s; he thought of her flaxen hair that kinked worse than a mulatto’s close to her head; that broad, smiling mouth and tiptilted nose, that full figure; that voice like a rich contralto song, with cadences in it that must have been taught by Satan, for there was no one else to teach her tricks on that ’Cadian prairie. Bobinôt thought of them all as he plowed his rows of cane.
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Explanation and Analysis:
That was an excellent thrust at Bobinôt, who had forgotten the figure of the dance with his mind bent on other things, and it started a clamor of laughter at his expense. He joined good-naturedly. It was better to receive even such notice as that from Calixta than none at all.
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