The Etudes de la nature appear as a vast project of natural theodicy. The supplementprovided by the fourth volume, and especially by the Paul et Virginie, leads us to consider a question essential to any comprehensive theodicy, which is the fate of an individual soul. Do the souls of the just who were unfortunate in this life receive some compensation after death? The answer suggested by the Paul et Virginie can be stated only allusively in a fictional setting. While extending the analysis started in the Etudes de la nature, it gives it a meaning that if it was stated directly and clearly, could not be accepted by the theologian censor.