Muriel Barberry's The Elegance Of The Hedgehog

“One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes... and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” – Eleanor Roosevelt. Philosophy is an abstract study of knowledge, existence, and overall, life. In The Elegance of the Hedgehog, philosophy is mainly expressed in a question of what the meaning of life and death is, due to one of main characters contemplating suicide. Though most of the light shined on those two aspects of philosophy, other philosophical pieces and disciplines such as The German Ideology, War and Peace, and Phenomenology were brought up throughout the novel. Muriel Barberry, the author of the novel, being a philosopher, integrated these topics to create a deeper understanding of existence for the reader. The Elegance of the Hedgehog has a very powerful plot of a young girl, Paloma, trying …show more content…
The cherry plum test is a test to check the balance of content between two things. In the book, Renee uses the two objects, a book on Phenomenology, and chocolate. If the sweetness or bitterness of the chocolate distracts the her from the content of the book, it will fail the test. On the other hand, if the excitement or confusion of the book distracts her from the chocolate, it will also fail the test. For this cherry plum test, my two aspects to test will be the weak or overpowers the philosophy, it will fail, and if the philosophy is too intriguing or confusing, it will also fail. As I read the book, I was very intrigued by the philosophy woven into the plot in how it relates to if young Paloma will commit suicide. However, understanding Phenomenology and basics of pieces of literature that were referenced was very hard in regarding to Renee. Because the plot and philosophy combined created an imbalance at some points in the book, the philosophical bent hampers the