In the novel Old Goriot by Honoré de Balzac discusses societal interactions in France in the early 1800s. Balzac investigates the jostling for power in different social classes. This novel is set after the French Revolution, where there was an increase in the fluidity between classes. This fluidity was caused by the restoration of the aristocracy, after it was mostly destroyed in the revolution.
Rastignac is a young student, who is just becoming an adult in the real world. He wants to become a lawyer and explore everything that Paris has to offer. He wants to be included in the most influential aristocratic social circles in Paris. He was born into an aristocratic family, so he already has some connections to help him achieve his dreams. However, …show more content…
It first starts with Rastignac's cousin, Madame de Beauséant. She is seen as his ticket into aristocratic society, and he uses his connection with her to network with others. She is friends with many different high ranking people. After meeting up with his cousin, Rastignac is invited to a ball and meets the Countess de Restaud. Rastignac ends up at Restaud’s salon, in which he makes a fool of himself. He cannot afford a carriage, so he arrives on foot, which gives it away that he does not have much money, and therefore is seen as lower class. He also wears evening clothes early in the afternoon. Even the doorman makes fun of him, as his mannerisms and appearance are clearly low class. Rastignac then walks into an awkward situation where Madame de Restaud, her lover, and her husband, all are in the same room politely talking. He then makes a blunder of bringing up knowing Goriot, for which he is looked down upon, for reasons unknown to Rastignac. After he leaves, Restaud tells the doorman to never let Rastignac in again. At this point, Rastignac does not know the correct way to act in high class society. He is ashamed because he does not fit in with the crowd, financially and behaviorally. The reader feels bad for Rastignac. We can connect to his embarrassment, as we all have made social blunders, not fit in, or had foot-in-mouth …show more content…
They have a conversation about how Rastignac will fit into society, and how to stick out in the crowd. Rastignac takes a competitive, unmoralistic approach, “Fifty thousand young men are in your position and are racking their brains to find a quick road to success...You must devour each other like spiders in a pot...Honesty is of no avail...Corruption is powerful in the world: talent is scarce” (129). Rastignac insists that there is nothing special about Rastignac, and that if he does not take a shady road to success, he will fall short of his dreams. Vautrin then offers the idea of marrying a rich woman in order to gain power in society, and suggests a murder plot in order to help Rastignac get rich. From this interaction, Rastignac has an idea of societal indifference put into his head. He is lead to believe that he will not amount to anything unless is he makes dramatic changes in his life, even if these changes are unmoralistic, or even borderline sociopathic. He now is lead to believe that he must either kill or be killed, in a metaphorical sense, and even in a literal sense, following the murder
Rastignac is a young student, who is just becoming an adult in the real world. He wants to become a lawyer and explore everything that Paris has to offer. He wants to be included in the most influential aristocratic social circles in Paris. He was born into an aristocratic family, so he already has some connections to help him achieve his dreams. However, …show more content…
It first starts with Rastignac's cousin, Madame de Beauséant. She is seen as his ticket into aristocratic society, and he uses his connection with her to network with others. She is friends with many different high ranking people. After meeting up with his cousin, Rastignac is invited to a ball and meets the Countess de Restaud. Rastignac ends up at Restaud’s salon, in which he makes a fool of himself. He cannot afford a carriage, so he arrives on foot, which gives it away that he does not have much money, and therefore is seen as lower class. He also wears evening clothes early in the afternoon. Even the doorman makes fun of him, as his mannerisms and appearance are clearly low class. Rastignac then walks into an awkward situation where Madame de Restaud, her lover, and her husband, all are in the same room politely talking. He then makes a blunder of bringing up knowing Goriot, for which he is looked down upon, for reasons unknown to Rastignac. After he leaves, Restaud tells the doorman to never let Rastignac in again. At this point, Rastignac does not know the correct way to act in high class society. He is ashamed because he does not fit in with the crowd, financially and behaviorally. The reader feels bad for Rastignac. We can connect to his embarrassment, as we all have made social blunders, not fit in, or had foot-in-mouth …show more content…
They have a conversation about how Rastignac will fit into society, and how to stick out in the crowd. Rastignac takes a competitive, unmoralistic approach, “Fifty thousand young men are in your position and are racking their brains to find a quick road to success...You must devour each other like spiders in a pot...Honesty is of no avail...Corruption is powerful in the world: talent is scarce” (129). Rastignac insists that there is nothing special about Rastignac, and that if he does not take a shady road to success, he will fall short of his dreams. Vautrin then offers the idea of marrying a rich woman in order to gain power in society, and suggests a murder plot in order to help Rastignac get rich. From this interaction, Rastignac has an idea of societal indifference put into his head. He is lead to believe that he will not amount to anything unless is he makes dramatic changes in his life, even if these changes are unmoralistic, or even borderline sociopathic. He now is lead to believe that he must either kill or be killed, in a metaphorical sense, and even in a literal sense, following the murder