Happening

Examine the Michel Leiris quote that begins the book. What do you think he means by this? Do you think Ernaux utilized this quote in titling the book, and why?

Ernaux writes after finding out she’s pregnant, “. . . neither my baccalaureat nor my degree in literature had waived that inescapable fatality of the working-class—the legacy of poverty—embodied by both the pregnant girl and the alcoholic.” (24–25) How does her working class background and education intersect later on in the story? Does either hinder or help her in her search for an abortion?

When Ernaux finally miscarries she says, “it’s here.” (75) What is the importance of her word choice?

In the last chapter, Ernaux revisits the cafe and church she went to before her abortion. She writes, “I realized that I had gone back to the Passage Cardinet in the hope that something might happen to me.” (95) What do you think she wanted to happen to her? What was the importance of revisiting her abortion so many years later?