Bel Ami
French 0080
December 13, 2004
The Devil’s Workshop The American dream sustained by millions of immigrants in the last three centuries is built upon blind, optimistic faith that hard work and effort will bring about good fortune to good and righteous people. However, this dream does not always become reality and many times, it is the people who work the least who are the most fortunate in terms of wealth and success. In three famed French novels, the effects of money, power, and idleness in Bel-Ami, The Immoralist, and The Vagabond are made known as this degeneration of the morals and/or self-worth of the characters involved are depicted. Maupassant’s novel, Bel-Ami, tells the tale of Georges Duroy and his climb up the social ladder in the 1880’s. At the beginning of the novel, Duroy is a simple clerk who works hard for very small wages and who is forced to husband his resources so that he can afford the rent for his apartment in the slums and his one meager meal per day. This existence bores and disgusts Duroy however, due to his lack of formal education and social connections he is unable to find a better paying position until his chance meeting with an old army friend, Forestier. With a gift of forty francs for a set of evening clothes, he is catapulted into aristocratic society as he is invited to dine with Forestier, his wife, and several business colleagues and friends. Although his personal experiences are limited, he regales his fellow dinner guests with stories about his time spent in Africa and before the evening is over, he is commissioned for an article on a cavalryman’s view of life in colonial Africa. The journalist’s position is drastically different from the occupation which he currently occupies given the flexibility with work and with an improved salary and Duroy jumps at this opportunity to promote himself into a more respected job. However, he finds himself unable to compose the article that is requested of him and
December 13, 2004
The Devil’s Workshop The American dream sustained by millions of immigrants in the last three centuries is built upon blind, optimistic faith that hard work and effort will bring about good fortune to good and righteous people. However, this dream does not always become reality and many times, it is the people who work the least who are the most fortunate in terms of wealth and success. In three famed French novels, the effects of money, power, and idleness in Bel-Ami, The Immoralist, and The Vagabond are made known as this degeneration of the morals and/or self-worth of the characters involved are depicted. Maupassant’s novel, Bel-Ami, tells the tale of Georges Duroy and his climb up the social ladder in the 1880’s. At the beginning of the novel, Duroy is a simple clerk who works hard for very small wages and who is forced to husband his resources so that he can afford the rent for his apartment in the slums and his one meager meal per day. This existence bores and disgusts Duroy however, due to his lack of formal education and social connections he is unable to find a better paying position until his chance meeting with an old army friend, Forestier. With a gift of forty francs for a set of evening clothes, he is catapulted into aristocratic society as he is invited to dine with Forestier, his wife, and several business colleagues and friends. Although his personal experiences are limited, he regales his fellow dinner guests with stories about his time spent in Africa and before the evening is over, he is commissioned for an article on a cavalryman’s view of life in colonial Africa. The journalist’s position is drastically different from the occupation which he currently occupies given the flexibility with work and with an improved salary and Duroy jumps at this opportunity to promote himself into a more respected job. However, he finds himself unable to compose the article that is requested of him and