Papillon

Description

Henri “Papillon” Charrière recounts his passage from an allegedly wrongful conviction in France to a life sentence in the Cayenne penal colony of French Guiana. Determined to recover his freedom, he enters a prison world where violence is routine and survival often depends on alliances. He befriends counterfeiter Louis Dega, protects him from attack, and joins other prisoners in devising escapes across hostile land and sea. A sailboat obtained with help from a nearby leper colony offers one possible route, but capture and further imprisonment keep renewing the struggle. Told as an autobiographical ordeal, Papillon centers on endurance, improvisation, loyalty, and one prisoner’s refusal to accept permanent confinement.

Themes