The Prisoners” tells the story of Berthine, a strong young peasant woman who, along with her family, is involved in anti-Prussian resistance activities in the nearby town of Rethel.
One night, Berthine gives shelter to six tired Prussian soldiers.
She tricks them into believing that the French forces have attacked the house, and she traps them in the cellar.
The enemy soldiers realize that they’ve been tricked and start firing shots from a vent to alert their army.
Berthine’s father gives the news to the local militia, and they arrive to arrest and question the enemy.
Because the Prussians refuse to surrender, the French soldiers grow bored waiting and start running in front of the vent hole from which the enemy was shooting.
A baker is shot. The French decide to pump water into the cellar to force the enemy out. Faced with drowning, the soldiers surrender.
The militia returns to town with the Prussians. Lavigne, the leader of the militia is rewarded for capturing the enemy soldiers (something that was done by Berthine), and the baker gets a military medal, even though he was shot while playing a game.
The theme that emerges in the story is that war isn't noble and neither are those who participate in it. Maupassant also suggests that success at war does not depend on courage but is riddled with dishonesty, tomfoolery, and pride. This theme is apparent at various points in the story: Berthine’s use of trickery to capture the soldiers, Lavigne's claim of the reward that should have been Berthine’s for capturing the “advance guard,” the desperate nature of the Prussian soldiers who were starving and lost, and the game that resulted in the baker getting shot.
