Aside from what we can see of Simon in his relation, or lack of relation, to his sister, there is also a juxtaposition of sorts within Simon himself. Throughout the extract, Simon seems to constantly shift between different personas. Yes, he could be childish, particularly when we analyse him according to his relationship with Sorel, but he also has these intellectual episodes in the extract. These characteristics, when combined, could make Simon into a pseudo-intellectual. We can see this with his erroneous use of the French language in the extract, when discussing Sorel’s acquaintance. He describes her as a ‘poseuse’ which translates as poser, which is ironic, because his pseudo-intellectualism would suggest that that is exactly what he is.
