Huysmans, Against Nature

uysmans, Against Nature (1884, on-line) pages 1-22, 35-43 Huysman’s description of Des Esseintes, the protagonist, is initially very sad and pathetic. The thing that is unsettling about this story is that his childhood was very barren and cold. His background disturbs me personally because I do not relate to it, so in a way my familiar is being contrasted to his which is unfamiliar. This in turn creates that uncanny quality. Des Esseintes seems to be either bipolar or have multiple personalities disorder. He is very much a recluse at times, but he also tries repeatedly to find a group that he identifies with. He is very empty as a person, he tries many things for a while and then decides he dislikes them, but he also had random carnal urges that are quite disturbing in description. He is very determined to make everything just so; he craves perfection. Because of this, Huysman interrupts the story to go off on long tangents about the detail in which Des Esseintes decorates his home, his parties, and his turtle. After he tells a horrible story about his tooth being pulled out, he realizes that his turtle is dead and he suspects is is because the turtle …show more content…
Instead of embracing the world he was set in he decides to seclude himself and create one of his own. Essentially there is not a progression of events that make up this story, Huysman is simply depicting Des Esseintes’s life and then going into vivid detail about certain aspects within it. As Professor Richmond-Garza mentioned in her lecture, there is something appealing and at the same time repulsive about his actions. He is surrounding himself with exquisite art and creating his own world, yet at the same time the abundance and specificity of it is almost suffocating. While this was written in 1884, these themes seem relevant even in todays society when it comes to some celebrities and their