Returning to his native village of Viantais after a six-year absence in Paris, Jules revolutionizes his countrymen with his scandalous behavior and unorthodox religious views.

Consenting to tutor his young nephew, Albert Dervelle – whom Mirbeau uses as an uncorrupted and innocent narrator – Jules exposes his ideas on sexuality, education, and man's "quest for an ideal".

[1] Retrospective narrative allows Mirbeau to recount Jules's past, his introduction into the priesthood, and the scandalous behavior resulting in his subsequent exile to a remote parish.

Through Jules and Pamphile, two rich and complex characters, the author elaborates his evolving views on the social evils that pervert man's instincts, artistic sensibilities, and spiritual yearnings for the absolute.

Robert Ziegler : "For the most part, the message of Mirbeau's novel is a negative one, aimed at exposing the imposture perpetuated by doctors, judges, educators and priests, dismantling the symbolic systems that culture creates.