Dante and the Lobster

Dante and the Lobster Summary | Detailed Summary

Belacqua is studying Dante's Paradiso one morning and is having great difficulty with the canti in the moon. He has been able to make it through the first part without much difficulty, but he has become hopelessly bogged down in the second part. Although he is bored, he refuses to quit and instead forces himself to understand the meaning of the words that are in front of him. He continues to work diligently until he hears the clock signal that it is mid-day. As the clock chimes, he emphatically closes the book and puts it aside.

Freed from the rigors of his studies, Belacqua contemplates how to spend the rest of the day. It seems that there is always something to be done, and in Belecqua's case these things include having lunch, getting a lobster, and then going for his Italian lesson. He isn't sure what he will do after his Italian lesson but is positive that something requiring his attention will come up between now and the time his lesson ends.

As Belacqua sets about the task of preparing his lunch, he hopes that he will be able to complete the task without interruption. An interruption would not only ruin his preparations, but the meal as well. To help guard against any possible intruders, Belacqua locks the door. Then, turning his full attention to the task at hand, he lays an old newspaper on the kitchen table before lighting the stove. Next, he takes the toaster from its place on the wall and sets it squarely on the flame. Noting that the flame is too high, and not wanting to risk the chance of toasting his bread too quickly, he turns the burner down. Satisfied that the flame has now been properly regulated, he turns to the next task: slicing the bread. With his knife, he cuts two slices of identical size before returning the remaining portion of the loaf to its tin. He takes the two bread slices to the stove and lays them one on top of the other on the toaster. The bread must be toasted in this manner, because the toaster isn't large enough to accommodate the slices side-by-side. The entire toasting process takes quite a bit of time, but Belacqua is a firm believer in the idea that anything worth doing is worth doing well. When he is satisfied that the bread is properly toasted, he removes the toaster from the flame and returns it to its nail on the wall.

Next, Belacqua spreads mustard, salt and Cayenne pepper on each piece of bread, taking care to make sure each piece is evenly coated. As he does this, he thinks about the delight he will feel when he finally begins to eat. However, he is not quite finished preparing this meal; there is still more work to be done before it can be eaten. Slapping the two pieces of bread together, he wraps them in newspaper and prepares to leave his house. As he does this, Belacqua hopes that he doesn't meet anyone he knows along the way, for any delays will certainly ruin this meal that he has so painstakingly prepared. As he makes his way through the streets, Belacqua keeps his head down to minimize the chance that he will be recognized by a passer-by. He reaches his destination - a small grocery store - and enters.

The grocer has had a piece of Gorgonzola cheese waiting for Belacqua since that morning. Belacqua looks at the piece of cheese; not very happy with what he sees, he turns it over to see if the other side is any better. Growing increasingly angry, Belacqua confronts the grocer and asks if this cheese is the best he has. The grocer assures him that he wouldn't be able to find a rottener piece in all of Dublin. Although Belacqua is not completely satisfied with this answer, he takes the cheese, places it between the two pieces of bread, and tells the grocer that if he cannot do better, he will be forced to buy his cheese elsewhere. Belacqua walks away from the store with great difficulty as his feet are crippled from various ailments. The grocer feels badly for Belacqua, but he also realizes that he cannot afford to continue to let him take the cheese without paying for it.

As Belacqua walks through town, he thinks once again about his schedule and decides that perhaps he has some time to spend in the bar before the fishmonger's shop opens later that afternoon. Considering this plan further, he decides that provided his aunt placed the order for the lobster early enough, he should be able to retrieve it without much of a wait and still make it to his class on time. He thinks about what he might like to drink and decides to make sure he keeps enough money for a tram ride in case he runs late.

With all of this decided, Belacqua begins to think of his upcoming lesson. He has not prepared one of the lessons he had been assigned, but he doesn't seem overly concerned. His teacher, Signorina Adriana Ottolenghi, is a charming and intelligent woman who is unlike all of the other women Belacqua has ever known. At his last lesson, she had suggested that they would read Il Cinque Maggio together this time, but Belacqua plans to ask her if they could postpone that lesson for another time. Instead, he plans to ask for her help with the canti in the moon passages that have been giving him such difficulty.

After spending some time in the bar, Belacqua makes his way toward the school. As he walks, he thinks again about his lunch and decides that it ranks among the best he has ever had. He also reminds himself that in the future, he must not be so quick to judge a piece of cheese based on its smell. He is also pleased that the transaction involving the lobster went as smoothly as it did; in fact, when the clerk had handed him the package, he had told Belacqua that the lobster was "lepping fresh," which he took to mean that it was freshly killed.

Belacqua arrives at the school, and after hanging his coat and hat in the hall, he makes his way to the Italian room where Signorina Ottolenghi is waiting. About thirty minutes into the lesson, when Signorina Ottolenghi compliments Belacqua on his progress, he decides to ask her about the passages from the canti in the moon that have been troubling him. Signorina Ottolenghi tells him that she is familiar with the passage, and although she cannot remember its significance, she offers to look it up for him. As they discuss this further, they become aware of a commotion in the hall outside the classroom. The school's French instructor, Mlle Gain, enters the room carrying a cat and asks what is in the package that Belacqua had left in the hall. When Belacqua replies that the package contains a fish, Mlle Gain tells him that she prevented the cat from getting into the package "in the nick of time." After Mlle Gain leaves the room, Belacqua attempts to get Signorina Ottolenghi to resume their lesson, but she is unwilling to do so.

Belacqua makes his way to the home of his aunt. When he arrives, she is tending to the plants in her garden. After she greets Belacqua, they make their way to the kitchen, and once there, his aunt unwraps the parcel containing the lobster. As Belacqua tells his aunt that he had been assured that the lobster is fresh, he sees it move. He is startled, and as his aunt goes off to get her tools, he watches the lobster move on the table. When his aunt returns, he asks what she intends to do to it. When she replies that she intends to boil it, Belacqua is mortified. Even her assurance that the lobster will not feel any pain does not placate him. He thinks about how the lobster had managed to survive living in the ocean, being captured, and being discovered by the French teacher's cat only to meet its end in a pot of boiling water. As his aunt drops the lobster into the pot, Belacqua consoles himself in the fact that the lobster's death will be a quick one.