Madame Picard

Character Analysis

Madame Picard—a.k.a. Widow Picard—works in the market in Lumière and is always caught in the crossfire of Papa and Mallory's competition. She's usually described as spitting or cussing while shooting the breeze with whomever else happens to be buying from her, and Hassan remarks once that she reminds him "of the old crones in Bombay" (8.22).

Right before Hassan moves to Paris he runs into her frolicking in the woods with Papa. They are obviously in some sort of romantic rendezvous. He's super weirded out by this at first, but then realizes that just like he's moving onto a different phase in life, Papa deserves a shot at happiness again too.