Bel Ami

French 0080 December 13, 2004 The Devils Workshop The Ameri cornerstone dream sustained by millions of immigrants in the last three centuries is built upon blind, optimistic faith that unattackable work and effort will stupefy about good fortune to good and righteous people. However, this dream does non al demeanors function reality and firearmy 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 m iodiny, power, and stagnateness in Bel-Ami, The Immoralist, and The wander are made known as this degeneration of the morals and/or self-worth of the char affecters involved are depicted.Maupassants novel, Bel-Ami, tells the tale of Georges Duroy and his climb up the brotherly ladder in the 1880s. At the beginning of the novel, Duroy is a simple shop clerk who works hard for very sm in all wages and who is forced to preserve his resources so that he can drop the rent for his apartment in the slums and his one meager meal per daytimelight. This existence bores and disgusts Duroy however, due to his lack of orchis education and well-disposed connections he is unav hurt to find a interrupt paying amaze until his chance meeting with an centenarian army friend, Forestier.With a gift of forty francs for a set of evening clothes, he is catapulted into blue society as he is invited to dine with Forestier, his wife, and several business colleagues and friends. Although his ain experiences are limited, he regales his fellow dinner guests with stories about his time spend in Africa and before the evening is over, he is com chargeed for an article on a cavalrymans view of life in compound Africa.The journalists stupefy is drastically different from the phone line which he currently occupies ween the flexibility with work and with an improved honorarium and Duroy jumps at this opportunity to promote himself into a more respected commerce. However, he finds hi mself unable to compose the article that is requested of him and approaches his friend for help. When Forestier instructs Duroy to go to his wife for aid, Duroy was anxious wondering what he was going to say and uneasy about the delightful he might receive (34, Bel-Ami).He is aware at this point that much(prenominal)(prenominal) behavior, visiting someones wife early in the dawn and eon she is dressed in a negligee, is not appropriate. However, he is encourage by both Forestiers and spends time with alone with Madeleine, an act which was not socially acceptable at the time, and stays until the article is completed by her. Again, Duroys conscience forces him to hesitate signing his name to the article entirely tranquil by another, simply he is compelled to by Madeleine. With the article written and completely disregarding this ambidextrousy, Duroy submits it to the composition as his own work.This act of plagiarism is markedly the start bill that Duroy takes up the social ladder and the first step down the ladder of morality. Duroy is engaged as an employee of La Vie Francaise, the newspaper where Forestier works, and the second installment of his series on Africa is requested of him the conterminous day. This position forwarders him nearly twice his former pay in terms of salary alone and he is also gainered commission per bankers bill per article. He starts his days at 3 pm apiece day, preferably than at 10am and his line of work is significantly less strenuous than before.However, on the first day when his article is printed, he quits his former job and spends the entire day buying frivolous items before going back to the newspaper superpowers, sans article. He is briefly reprimanded for his laziness by Forestier and is sent on his first mission with another journalist, St. Potin, to interview two visiting dignitaries. On this outing, St. Potin shows Duroy the ropes by winning him out for drinks and gossip about everyone and everything involved in the paper. He criticizes M. Walter, the distributor point of the paper, and pokes fun at him with Jewish stereotypes.He openly makes inappropriate references to Mme. Forestier and her blood with the Comte de Vaudrec, disrespect Duroys position as a friend to her husband. Duroy, unaccustomed to such blunt and uncouth conversation topics experiences extreme discomfort and battles an urge to provoke and slap the face of this gossip-monger (50, Bel-Ami). The meeting ends with St. Potin telling Duroy how he has no design to actually interview the two dignitaries and instead will rewrite an old article from an interview with similar foreigners.Again, Duroy is rather surprised but does not voice any opposition he may have to these dishonest acts. The next day, he is also informed that it is possible to get advances on ones salary at the newspaper, ridding Duroy of the necessity of waiting and livery his money. He continues his work at the paper and becomes a very almost known reporter but due to his expenditures, the advances on his already increase salary are insufficient and he lives just as impoverishment stricken as he did before, regardless of the change in his income. The next step that Duroy takes down the passageway of immorality is his association with Mme.De Marelle, one of the women who he had met at his first dinner with Forestier. afterwards visiting her, she invites him out to dinner with her and the two Forestiers. He accepts and short all four gorge themselves with delicacies, delightful wines and champagnes, and make incredibly inappropriate sexual comments and advances to each other. When discussing love, Duroy is again shown as a bit of a romantic who believes that there is some purity in the world when it is said that he believed that love could last, creating a bond, a kind of tetchy friendship, a mutual trust (64, Bel-Ami).However, this is not enough to stay on him from gossiping with the other three and he vocalizes his contempt for love and tenderness condescension his beliefs. Shortly after, he and Mme. De Marelle become lovers and one result of this is another contort on Duroys already too scanty salary. She enjoys to be taken out and to experience life while he works to afford his rent and his meals. He quickly falls into debt with everyone and owes the most to the cashier turnedice at the newspaper. After confessing this to her, he finds that Mme. De Marelle adopts the habit of leaving money almost his apartment or in his clothing.At first, he is mortified by this get of events and his feelings in a turmoil of fury and humiliation (82, Bel-Ami). He vows to tax give in the money to her but instead spends it on lunch and paying off debts. Although he confronts her over the issue, Mme. De Marelle continues to commit him tokens of her appreciation. He is duly humiliated each time, but he does not return the money or disdain it. He becomes a prostitute for her and uses her money for al l of his purposes, such as food, debts, and even sex from a prostitute at the Folies-Berger.This origination into amorality continues as he continues to make more progress in climbing the incorporate ladder. Duroy is ultimately caught by Mme. De Marelle when she discovers that he has been paying a prostitute with her gifts and he finds himself strapped for money. After Forestier refuses to lend him a substantial sum and insults him when Duroy doesnt actualize his job well enough, Duroy almost immediately begins plotting against Forestier by thinking You wait, Ill get youIm going to have your wife, old man (88, Bel-Ami). Given that only(prenominal) shortly before he had been ready to produce the man who implied Mme.Forestiers infidelity to her husband, Duroys cite has obviously changed. Until this point, the only revenge that Duroy sought was at his former place of employment when he insulted his boss and this thought marks the very beginning of the noticeable changes from his bonny self to his corrupted and vile counterpart. Duroy continues on his ascent into society and eventually does obtain the hand of Mme. Forestier after her husbands death. He inherits his money, social position, and occupation and completely assumes Forestiers position in life.He has pass ond the life that he had set out to make for himself. However, he is haunted by the memories of the at rest(predicate) man and soon, the life that he has is insufficient for him. One of the biggest catalysts for Duroys descent into amorality is the suspicion of his new bride he comes to the conclusion that she has been unfaithful to him and he writes off all women, believing that all women are whores, you have to use them and not give them anything of yourself (181, Bel-Ami). He is embittered by this turn of events and becomes ruthless in his plans to achieve the most money and wealth that he can.When Madeleines patron, the Comte de Vaudrec, dies and she inherits all of his wealth, Duroy forc es her to give him half of the sum. Duroy later turns to Mme. Walter, the wife of the head of the newspaper, and uses her to get the top of the company. After using and discarding her, he discards Madeleine after arranging to catch her in an act of infidelity. His lust for money and power ultimately bring about his immorality, while being one of the richest men in his circle. Money has ultimately corrupted him. In The Immoralist, Michel is a man of independent means.Born into a middle set family, he does not have to struggle to make it into society as Duroy did. He already has a comfortable occupation and on his honeymoon, spends his wealth on things of comfort and pleasure. He travels south with Marceline, his new bride, and for one of the first times in his life, leaves his work of books and study behind him. On the way to his destination, he has a severe bout with tuberculosis and nearly dies. He reflects that he worked to the end, did his duty resolutely, devotedly (19, The Imm oralist) which reflects his lack of zest for life.He resigns himself to death, but the palm of his wife keeps him alive and helps him to recover. Marceline chooses a lovely location for him to recuperate but he shows little interest in his surroundings and is too worn out to do any work of any kind. He states that being is occupation enough (22, The Immoralist). Michel is an idle man, a man who has never known what it is to authentically work hard to achieve something. However, faced with his mortality, he develops a regenerate zeal for life and begins to spend his wealth with more abandon than before.On his return back to Europe, the architectural sites mean nothing to him any long-run and he only wants to experience life at the fullest. He takes himself and Marceline to a provoke that he possesses in Normandy and it is at that elevate where he loses his idling and becomes the take up type of man that he ever is during the novel. One can reason out that it is at this far asidem where he spends the majority of his time at work, at various occupations that require him to put forth manual labor rather than being lazy, and that is the cause of this semi transformation.He is, however, called to accept a teaching position at one of the more prestigious universities in Paris and when he takes this position, begins his cycle downward. Going to Paris, he spends enormous amounts of money as he and Marceline struggle to furnish their new apartments, which the cost of furnishing the new apartment would exit their income for the year (88, The Immoralist). earlier than settling for what he could afford, Michel recklessly spends what he involve to get what he wants.As his idle time increases, Marcelines health decreases and Michel uses her failing health as an excuse to quit his new job, for he has become bored and disillusioned with it, and drags her back to his farm in Normandy. No longer interested in working for the betterment of the property, Michel take s up with poachers and ruins his own lands, do them undesirable and causing them to lose whatever profits they had once made. It seems that his idle hands are aching to be occupied with some payoff and given that he is no longer interested in working, he becomes a voyeur into the lives of the most debauched around him.The farm is soon ruined under his direction and he forever ruins his relationships with the people who had worked for him and his spawn for years. He is confronted by one of the sons of his employee who tells him that it was Michel who taught him last year that property involves trusted responsibilities but Michel seems to have forgotten (138, The Immoralist). Michel is not moved by this rumor but rather becomes disgusted with his work and informs the grounds keeper that the farm is to be sold.Despite Marcelines increasing health troubles, Michel picks up and leaves the farm as soon as he becomes disillusioned with it and with the people around him and drags Marc eline on a trip through Europe and back south to where they had fatigued their honeymoon. On this flight, Michel has nothing to occupy his time or capture his interests debar for multiple acts of immoral behavior. He spends his money recklessly, without abandon, and never takes into account Marcelines needs or desires. Instead, he constantly justifies his own selfishness by blaming these things on Marcelines needs.Her health worsens as he drags her to climates not healthy for her ailing lungs, but he is so preoccupied with experiencing the debauched lifestyle that he does not care about it and refuses to acknowledge that he is slowly cleaning his wife. In a sick way, Michel seems excited by his prospect of waste his riches for he claims that A reversal of fortuneshould teach as much as a reversal of health (144, The Immoralist). Finally, his selfishness and inability to steal right from wrong cause the death of Marceline. Michel is left alone, without work or meaningful occupat ion.However, instead of working or attempting to rebuild the life that he purposefully destroyed, he is content to do nothing except exist. At the end of the novel, he states that nothing discourages thought so much as this perpetual blue sky. Here any exertion is impossible, so closely does pleasure follow desire (170, The Immoralist). This last statement of him shows truly how far he has descended into this state. The Vagabond is different from the aforementioned novels in that its main character is not one who does not appreciate the value of money or the importance of work.Rather, its heroine, Renee Nere, works at first because she must but in conclusion because she wants to rather than condemn herself to a life of servitude to a husband. Renee is a mid-thirties divorcee who sings, dances, and acts in a second rate performing ships company and who is eventually courted by a rich, handsome man who embodies money and idleness. Rather than openly accepting the life of luxury he offers, Renee ultimately rejects him because he cannot recognize her aversion to a married life in captivity. scoopful, her suitor, is an passing rich man who has no occupation at all and who lives off of the money provided to him by his family. Max cannot understand the importance of a job in Renees eyes and ultimately, it is this inability to comprehend her motives that cause their bud romance to fail. In a short passage, Renee displays her opinions on the effects of idleness on an actor. She states that she is touched by the concern of one of her colleagues who wants to save her from hard times and the idleness which demoralizes out-of-work actors, diminishing their powers and making them go to pieces (101-102, The Vagabond).She feels that it is necessary to keep oneself occupied and it is that reason as well as the fact that she does not want to repeat her past experiences with her ex-husband that she rejects Maxs advances. The major conflict amid the two is the impending tou r of the theater throng with whom Renee works. Many times in the novel, Max voices his desire for her to remain and to leave the theater and to accept a less strenuous life with him. However, Renee doesnt respect him for his self-imposed inactivity and she likens him to a prostitute as he is the first man she had ever met who was idle.She states that he has no profession and no sinecure behind which to conceal his lazy freedom (140, The Vagabond). Max constantly asks her wherefore she wont leave the industry and he often rebukes her for her occupation. She replies to him that he has the means to live otherwisebut as for her, what would he have her do (143, The Vagabond). When he offers to provide for her, she finds the idea repugnant and humiliating. When discussing the plans for the tour, Renee and her mentor, Brague, begin to discuss her relationship with Max.When Brague asks her what business Max is involved in, Renee replies, slightly embarrassed that Max does nothing at all. Brague finds that admission to be rather fascinating, stating that its staggeringthat anyone can live like that. No office. No factory. No rehearsals. No cannonball along stables (163, The Vagabond). Neither of the two working people can possibly understand nor sympathize with the motives of a psyche who does not take part in the simple task of human work. Another source of conflict between Max and Renee is the issue of money Max has too much, Renee not enough.An usage of this problem is highlighted when Renee is packing for the tour and is planning to share a soundbox with Brague in order to save on the costs. The total proposed sum to be saved is two hundred francs, but Max does not support with such a situation and tells Renee that the situation was sordid and that its all so paltry (167, The Vagabond). She is horribly offended by this dismissive side to money, but she recognizes that Max would not have learnt that money, the money one earns, is a respectable, serious thing which one handles with care and speaks about solemnly (167, The Vagabond).In the end, it is Maxs dismissive attitude to everything and his desire to control Renee that ruins their relationship Renee goes on with plans to further her chosen career and leaves Max with best wishes for romance in his future. In Bel-Ami, The Immoralist, and The Vagabond, money and idleness are major factors that determine the path of each of the characters involved. In Bel-Ami, the more money Duroy obtains, the less work he does for it and his moral state shows much worse for the wear.The Immoralist discusses Michel and how he becomes a drip being with self-imposed idleness and his strong desire to cast away all ties to his prior lifestyle. Renee in The Vagabond shows how self-reliance and independence is passing vital to a successful relationship and how depending on one person for all of lifes pleasures can only lead to disenchantment and failure. These lessons, though not all good, are important t o be well-educated in order to successfully prioritize ones life.Only one of the three characters above became financially successful and he ruthlessly sacrificed the reputations, happiness, and saneness of others in order to achieve his goals. Apparently, the American dream does not forever have the desired fairytale ending but one can derive this lesson from these tales riches may not be guaranteed, but the chances of accompaniment a fulfilling life are greatly increased by guardianship oneself occupied and focused on the future, rather than being lazy and set-apart with life and the world around him. As can be reason from these novels, idle hands are truly the Devils tools.