The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Book 4, Chapter 2 summary
Book 4, Chapter 2 of 60 · 8 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 2, Claude Frollo’s life changes when plague kills his parents and leaves him responsible for his infant brother, Jehan, giving his studies and priesthood a new purpose. His love for Jehan also moves him to adopt an abandoned, disabled child, whom he baptizes and names Quasimodo.
What happens
- Raised for the priesthood, Claude Frollo devotes his youth to theology, law, medicine, languages, and the arts.
- The plague kills Claude’s parents, and he takes responsibility for his surviving infant brother, Jehan.
- Claude places Jehan with a wet nurse at Moulin and makes his brother’s welfare the purpose of his work.
- At twenty, Claude becomes Notre-Dame’s youngest chaplain, earning respect for scholarship and a popular reputation for sorcery.
- On Quasimodo Day, Claude sees an abandoned child and imagines Jehan suffering the same fate.
- Claude adopts the child as an act of charity for Jehan’s sake, baptizes him, and names him Quasimodo.

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Why does Claude take pity on the abandoned child?

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