The unconventional style of the Essais has been an essential part of virtually every major study of Montaigne. Its link to the essayist's discourse on the unnatural--scattered throughout the text has also been noted, relatively rarely, however, in connection with "Des boyteux" (III, 11). It is nonetheless in this chapter that the problem of the veracity of seemingly supernatural or abnormal activities takes center stage. The term oblique evokes in fact the verb obliger via what one could call a case of extremely subtle anamorphosis. This figure supports Montaigne's argument on a subconscious level. In order to grasp the "words in a corner," "signposts" for diligent readers, we are obliged to cast une veue oblique as if looking into an anamorphic mirror, therefore adopting an unconventional decoding method to cope with an unconventionally encoded text.( Tom Conley)
These observations point to the theme of deformity, which dominates the approach of "Des boyteux" and marks the general structure of the Essais on various levels: visual, linguistic, corporal, and figurative. Such hidden signs and "sidelong glances" (veues obliques) are the characteristics of Montaigne's irregular and visual writing that masks the implicit unity of the essay as well as its discussion of the rationality of supernatural phenomena. A close reading of this rather daring passage cannot fail to reveal a number of key terms that form the foundation of Montaigne's argument. (Richard Regosin)Curiously enough, the long awaited arrival of the cripples is introduced by the comment "apropos ou hors de propos, il n'importe,"( Tom Conley) as if to underline the different levels of links and connotations that make up the text.
Apropos seems to denote the overdue link to the title whereas hors de propos stresses the fact that the reader will be confronted with yet another item drawn from the long list of apparently random and unrelated examples that make up the essay, and indeed the entire book.
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