The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Book 6, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

The crowd are very fickle. This suggests that, although the people of Paris are very powerful and could easily overthrow injustice if they united behind this cause, they lack the knowledge to do so and behave cruelly instead, because they live in a cruel society and learn by example.

Hugo suggests that both medieval French society and modern French society are extremely brutal and careless in their treatment of prisoners. In 1830, when Hugo was writing, public punishment was still common and a popular entertainment in France. This implies that society has, in some ways, not learned from its past mistakes and that 19th-century Parisians still have work to do to build a just society.

Hugo suggests that the people in the medieval crowd lack the ability to empathize with Quasimodo not because they are innately cruel, but because they do not yet have the tools to understand other people’s perspectives. Hugo implies that knowledge destroys ignorance, which often causes people to be cruel, and teaches people to communicate with others so that they can become kinder and more understanding. This became increasingly possible after the medieval period because the invention of the printing press meant that literacy increased, knowledge spread faster, and ignorance declined.

Quasimodo is ostracized from society and cannot understand why people hate him. His alienation is both literal—he is deaf—and metaphorical—he has grown up in isolation and does not understand that people hate him because he is different. Quasimodo learns to hate them in return, which again suggests that cruel treatment breeds further cruelty.

Frollo is a hypocrite; he only cares about his reputation and how he appears to the public. He does not help Quasimodo because he does not want people to discover that Frollo ordered Quasimodo to kidnap Esmeralda—which is why he is being punished. This suggests that Frollo cares more about his own reputation than Quasimodo’s wellbeing or justice, even though Quasimodo is completely devoted to Frollo.

Nobody wants to go against the crowd because this may put them in danger if the crowd turns on them. This scene again emphasizes that the people of Paris are very powerful, even though they haven’t yet learned to harness that power to end their own oppression.

Esmeralda is genuinely brave and virtuous, and her internal character matches up with her outward beauty. Unlike the others in the crowd, Esmeralda does not shun Quasimodo because of his appearance and she is kind to him even though he is ugly. She is frightened of him because he tried to abduct her, but she doesn’t let this stop her, suggesting that kindness has to start with someone setting aside fear and embracing compassion instead.

Esmeralda and Quasimodo reflect the two aspects of Gothic architecture, its beauty and its grotesque aspects, which Hugo feels reflect medieval culture more generally. The people’s appreciation of this odd contrast highlights how Gothic architecture has the power to tap into the true complexity of human emotion.