The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Book 4, Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

Quasimodo is ostracized from society because of his unusual appearance and is forced to grow up in isolation. This suggests that people in medieval society reject or accept people based on how they look. Quasimodo is shaped by his environment—Notre Dame—and grows to be like the building. He is like a work of Gothic architecture because his ugliness is extreme, but Hugo indicates that this doesn’t make him any less human; Quasimodo’s feelings are as real and valuable as anyone else’s, just like Gothic architecture is beautiful and worth understanding.

Like Gothic architecture itself, Quasimodo is not afraid of extreme heights or frightening statues and he, himself, is extremely ugly in a way that seems to reflect the cathedral itself. He is, therefore, the novel’s most extreme example of how people are products of their environments.

Here, Hugo makes it clear that buildings reflect social values and the psychology of the people who built them. This is taken to extremes in Quasimodo, who is totally cut off from other people and can’t even hear because of the effect the bells have had on him. Hi condition subtly reflects that of medieval society more generally: Hugo suggests that, because medieval people lack the psychological and scientific knowledge to rationally understand the world, they are alienated from each other and can only take things at face value.

Although Quasimodo wants to connect with people, medieval society judges him on how he looks. Quasimodo is alienated because he does not fit in, which suggests that social rejection is extremely painful and causes individuals to become sad and bitter. Eventually Quasimodo stops trying to connect with people because they do not care about getting to know him, highlighting Hugo’s point that individuals reflect the societies that shape them.

Quasimodo rejects society because society rejects him and judges him unfairly purely based on his appearance. This suggests that people imitate the behavior that they have experienced; someone who has been treated cruelly is more likely to be cruel than someone who has been accepted and loved. Quasimodo’s plight also reflects the plight of Gothic architecture in 19th-century society—it is scorned and forgotten because people think it is ugly, even though it contains valuable insight into humanity’s past.

Hugo blurs the line between the architecture and the people of Paris, since Quasimodo believes that the stone figures are in some way alive. The cathedral has shaped Quasimodo, but here, he shapes it in return; his presence and attention brings the architecture to life. Architecture, therefore, reflects the values and psychology of a society, just as people themselves do.

Quasimodo communicates with Notre Dame in a way that he cannot communicate with people. He is ostracized from society because of his appearance, which people find hideous and frightening. And while he cannot hear people when they talk, he can hear the bells, which he rings. This suggests that Quasimodo has a reciprocal relationship with Notre Dame. He helps the church perform its function and use its voice (the bells communicate time and mark social occasions for the populace), and this allows Quasimodo to express himself and, indirectly, communicate with the Parisians. This supports Hugo’s idea that people and architecture live in a kind of dynamic symbiosis.

While Notre Dame is forgotten and neglected in 19th-century Paris, to the medieval Parisians the cathedral is a powerful presence. Quasimodo symbolizes medieval society’s relationship with Gothic architecture. It is not just something functional or decorative; it is spiritually important and almost magical. Although modern society’s approach to architecture has changed, Hugo suggests that historical architecture is an important resource for understanding how previous societies viewed the world.   

Notre Dame is dead because people in the 19th century, when Hugo is writing, no longer believe that Gothic architecture is important. This suggests that people bring architecture to life when they use it, appreciate it, and understand its history. Without this two-way relationship, architecture becomes meaningless and the historical knowledge that it contains is lost—something Hugo considers a terrible shame.