Character Relationship Map: Forbidden Games

Characters

• Paulette (played by Brigitte Fossey) — protagonist

  A five-year-old girl whose parents and pet dog are killed in a German air attack. Taken in by the Dollé family, she becomes attached to Michel and joins him in creating a secret cemetery for dead anim...

• Michel Dolle (played by Georges Poujouly) — protagonist

  A ten-year-old boy from the Dollé family who takes Paulette in and becomes closely attached to her. He secretly builds a cemetery with her, steals crosses from a local graveyard, and ultimately destro...

• Raymond Dollé (played by Marcel Mérovée) — minor
• Red Cross Nun (played by Madeleine Barbulée) — supporting

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Red Cross Nun → Michel Dolle (Power Custodial Separation) — The Red Cross institution becomes part of the force separating the children.

  Paulette is taken to a Red Cross camp rather than remaining with Michel's family.

• Red Cross Nun → Paulette (Professional Caretaker) — The nun represents institutional care for the displaced child.

  Paulette ends up at a Red Cross camp, where the Red Cross staff receive her after separation from the Dollé household.

• Raymond Dollé → Paulette (Power Host Guardian) — Raymond temporarily controls Paulette's place within the household.

  Raymond's peasant family takes Paulette in, but he later accepts the gendarmes' effort to take her away.

• Raymond Dollé → Michel Dolle (Family Father) — Raymond is Michel's parental authority within the Dollé household.

  The plot identifies Raymond Dollé as Michel's father, and Michel tells him where the crosses are hidden.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Michel Dolle → Paulette (Social Close Companion) — Their childhood companionship becomes the emotional center of the story.

  After Paulette is taken in by Michel's family, she quickly becomes attached to him, and they create the cemetery together.

Story Analysis

Two children create a private world of graves and crosses while war repeatedly separates them from safety and one another.

Plot Progression

1. The Ruin Of Innocence — Paulette loses her parents and dog during an air attack on refugees fleeing Paris. She then meets Michel and is taken into the Dollé household.
2. A Secret Cemetery — Paulette and Michel grow attached while confronting the surrounding death. They create a cemetery at an abandoned watermill and begin burying animals.
3. The Stolen Crosses — Michel steals crosses from a local graveyard to mark the animal graves. The use of a cross from his brother's grave increases the moral danger.
4. The Broken Bargain — Raymond discovers Michel's theft just as the gendarmes arrive for Paulette. Michel offers the crosses' location in exchange for her remaining at the household.
5. A Child Lost Again — Raymond fails to preserve Paulette's stay, so Michel destroys the crosses in the stream. Paulette reaches a Red Cross camp and cries for Michel and her mother.