Honore de Balzac and his book "Père Goriot"

Honore de Balzac is a writer who portrayed in his works a realistic picture of the life of French society. His original design was to create one hundred works to be included in the cycle of fictional works "Human Comedy". But their number is eighty-three. "Père Goriot" is a work that tells the fate of a loved-to-mad father. In addition to his hard life, the work rebukes other colorful images and phenomena from the French reality. In "Père Goriot Balzac reflects the biggest poorer of society - money. In front of him, the author sees how the old perception of the world shifts from the power that the "yellow metal" has. It does not hide anything from what is happening in society. This is why the novel has become a realistic picture of time. The action develops in Mrs. Voke's home. The author presents with the help of several characters the main features of the French society. Some have established their characters, but there are some for whom the choice is forthcoming. Gradually, Balzac introduced us to the speculator Père Goriot, Votren, the law student, Rastinjak. They are typical representatives of life in French society. In this way the author achieves his goal - to oppose the rich of the poor. He vividly reproduces the appearance of Paris from the middle of the 19th century. This is the city of fashion, luxury and vanity, but behind this deceptive picture stands another reality - that of misery and corruption. Society is also subject to these laws. So Balzac, with the first pages of "Père Goriot", convinces us in this fact. The misery that reigns in Mrs. Voke's pension contrasts with the rich aristocratic homes. But people do not differ greatly, all are subject to money. The desire to possess them provokes many inferior qualities that can exist in the soul of one person - selfishness, predation, devaluation of the human personality. In this way, the author brings to the fore, everything hidden in the soul of man. Characters are individualists who are subject to the general law - the money. Thanks to this quality they are ready to do their best to own them. This fact unites the people living in Mrs. Voke's home.

image source

The main character in the novel is Père Goriot. He is an elderly man abandoned by his two daughters. As a young man he was poor, he worked with a grain trader, and after his death he had seized his riches. At that time, Père Goriot decided to continue trading. This is the period of Restoration, the wheat is few and many people die of starvation. Père Goriot took advantage of the situation to speculate on the price of the grain. In this way he accumulates great riches.The personality of Père Goriot which we witness at the boarding house, contrasts with that of the younger years of his life. He has become a poor man who is under the influence of love for his daughters. The character has gone through the ladder of his life. He was initially a very wealthy man, then divided the accumulated wealth between his two daughters, and eventually lived in a miserable room at Mrs. Voke's boarding house. His life is painful - without a drop of love and warmth is abandoned by his children. Thecharacter struggles for his own survival. Until the last moment of his life, Père Goriot believes he is loved by his two daughters, but ultimately understands how powerful the money is.Abandoned by all the character is only supported by Rastiniak. He is a young man, full of dreams and ideals. He is led by the urge to remain "pure as a lily," but understands that it is impossible in French society. The money is in it, and the characters make plans for untold riches. According to Votren, account marriage is the best means of getting rich. In this society, love is bought and sold as anything else. Gradually, what has been learned by Rastiniak since the childhood is forgotten. With the help of the Bossian context, the law student understands that he will accomplish nothing with labor and resignation. For a person like him without financial possibilities, the best solution is sales. In the last pages of the novel, we come to the conclusion that Rastiniak takes advantage of this advice, throwing away all his urges and considerations. Interesting in the image of the student is his character. He learns from life and society, not books. He sees in front of himself everything that he did not even suspect to exist. The sophisticated clothes prompt him to change his virtues: "Seeing new clothes, gloves, Rastiniak forgot his virtuous decision." Honesty, justice, and diligence sound like worn out. In the soul of the young man, modern thinking is formed to provide him with a place in the higher society. In the end, he agrees with Votren's opinion that "wealth is virtue." Its current goal is to turn to the aristocracy, where luxury, rather than legal education. There is one more way of drilling in the higher society for the Rastiniak - it is love. For this purpose, the student is ready to marry an account.

Rastinjak would not have come to this conclusion without Votren's help. The years spent in jail have given him a brighter light on the major issues in society. It is the money that is turned into the dream of his life. As Rastinjak is led by the quest to find a place in the higher society, then Votren wants to have plantations. We come to the conclusion that the characters have different goals.Castaway, Père Goriot, and Votrein discover happiness in wealth alone. The characters fall into a swamp, from which there is no escape. Pursuing the money, they forget their essences. It is the final showing the fate of the characters. Père Goriot was sent by strangers in the last hour. He ends his life path, and the young student makes the first decisive step toward the aristocracy. Plumber buries his last tear, and then boldly turns his back to misery. The place where this fateful decision is taken is the cemetery. It is symbolic if the character chooses the virtues, it means that he will "bury" himself, and if he enters the road to Paris he will succeed. Plantner selects the second option. According to Balzac , love is a means, marriage - a deal, and money - a higher power. Characters will achieve their goals, reaching just one of three options. They embark on a cruel battle with life. The author denounces the surrounding world, rotten from the foundations to the top of the world. The novel "Père Goriot" accurately and faithfully presents a 19th century painting. The contrasting Parisian life gives birth to a personal story and a moral human drama to the characters who walk the difficult and long journey of happiness to misery.