1. After a long exposition revealing the wretched denizens of a foul community, Honor De Balzac describes more of the festering establishment which many live, chiefly a Pere Goriot. We first meet the stories namesake as a worn down old man after we meet an array of other characters of the household who have particular vices to counterbalance their own personality. For example; Michonneau is a vile wretched being, but is fascinated with love. The story then goes back through time, at first around seven years to the retirement of Mr. Goriot. Mr. Goriot retires wealthy which immediately attracts the attention of his "land lord" (for lack of a better word.) as a suitor. However, it seemed Père was not interested with her and she left his company in minor anguish. Over time, two charecters fall into play around Père's social life; Vautrin: a man who wished to play off the fortune of the stories name sake, and others who he has the opportunity for, and Eugene de Rastignacwho is very fond of Père's daughters. After a time Vautrin finds Eugene a viable target for him to take advantage of. Père in the later chapters is found to be a soft parental character who, in all respects, is the paying end of the daddies little girls relationship. While we find Vautrin a cynical character obsessed and corrupted by power and wealth. Eugene turns out to be socially awkward and blunders about a negative society. He recognizes how the two Goriot daughters feed off their fathers wealth with the unwavering consent of their father. Eugene and Vautrin fight after social class issues ill deal with later, and after the spout Eugene gets in contact with the Goriot daughters and becomes a aquantince of Mr. Goriot. Père Describes his love for his daughters. At a point in time, a charecter by the name of Michonneau is introduced to be a detective and believes Vautern to be a convict hiding under a pseudonym. He gets subsequently arrested and for his trial he appeals to the love and beauty present in Goriot. He is then thrown under the buss as his daughters. Mr. Goriot dies an old sick man, driven mad with grief, or happiness, hard to tell since he was mad, and the story comes to a close.
2. The theme of the story was balanced towards the idea that society is screwed over with the greed and lust for money. Père Goriot was an okay person until the surrounding social class strain destroyed his heart and left him a poor old man who is looked down upon in society because his lack of money.
3. Balzac was generally very dark. He rotated around factors like "the creaking floor and rotten wood around the furnace" more than anything happy he could possibly create. Further he refers to people being subhuman at the point where Père Goriot kisses his daughters feet to show his affection. Later, Vautern is used as a ultimate negative. He was ark mannered attracted indefinably to money and cared not for other people in any way shape or form.
4. Pathos directly linked the mental anguish of the father to the reader. Allusions were made by Balzac to his own era to express his disgust for society. Mr Goriot was compared to a wild animal in his love for his daughters. Mr. Goriot explained his unconditional love with aphorisms. Apologia in the court case swayed Mr. Goriot a little bit. Balzac used direct characterization to describe the characters. The extreme love of Père was a cliche from the romantic era. Primary conflict had aiding conflict to add depth to the story.
1. "The old man sagged in his chair, a sickness was upon him" and "His eyes were sunken in as if they had seen far more years than they should have." are direct while, "he looked up to the man to see his eyes clearly" and "Without assistance, I doubt he could stand." are both indirect ways of divulging information.
2. While Goriot's story is generally told from a sad but hopeful point of view (mostly), while Eugene's side of the story is more interestingly similar to a child taking in information and changing it to make it palatable and mold able for himself. He provided a thoughtful insight to the book.
3. Every character is round with the exception of maybe Vautrin. Goriot has the depth of passion with pangs of regret followed with a conscious telling him he hasn't done enough baked into a souffle of agony creating a three dementional struggle where you get lost in the deep complex of his mind. While Eugene tends to be more awkward and ashamed at his low socioeconomic status with the addition of being caught in a complex love triangle. Vautrin seems to be only fueled by his desires and therefore is predictable and flat.
4. I feel i finally connected with Goriot. He was acting so instinctually, it seemed Balzac meant for the reader to feel a part of him. I was caught up with the anguish he experienced and personally wondered why one man would put up with such torment while he still had jurisdiction over his own life.
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