Corriveau's friend BÔerubÔe beats his bride Molly, a Newfoundland whore, while his officers, the "English" soldiers who delivered the corpse, are attacked by the villagers. Other vignettes reflect violence literally and linguistically: Joseph chops off his hand in order to avoid conscription, while AmÔelie rules over her deserter husband and the draft-dodging Arthur, loving both cowards. Carrier's nightmare vision portrays the peasant and his language realistically but sympathetically.