Emile Guillaumins the Life of a Simple Man - Book Report/Review Example

Emile Guillaumin’s the Life of a Simple Man The novel narrates the story of a poor French sharecropper and depicts the socio-economic as well as political situations of the 19th century France society, highlighting major revolutionary events in 1830 and 1848 together with the Louis Napoleon’s coup d’état. The writer does portray the human history in a new light, by highlighting the rural experiences in general and the experience of the individual in particular, which are easy to overlook since major events that shape the history of nations all over the world often overshadows them. Tiennnon and his father suffer a great deal due to the hardships of peasant life they have to endure at the hands of proprietors of the lands on which they live and work, thus, their survival is at the mercy of these proprietors. Proprietors have the power to dismiss farm families as they wish and with every subsequent removal, Tiennon and his father have to look for new ones; overall, peasant life in the 19th century French society is defined by the seasons and changes in nature since the rural areas are locked out of the political and economic limelight. Tiennon can indeed be described as a “religious” man, particularly because he is aware of the doctrines and observes the rites of the Catholic Church such as attending Sunday mass, taking catechism and eating sacrament. For instance, in chapter VI Tiennon mentions that: “I could hardly get back from the catechism before ten o'clock, but I often returned later (Guillaumin 36)…in May, 1835, after my second year of catechism, the good old cure allowed me to receive the Sacrament (Guillaumin 37). Similarly, Tiennon can be regarded as being morally upright despite the isolated incidences of amorous behavior in his youthful escapades; for instance, the nature of his relationship with Therese indicates a high level of moral standing since it was without any trace of indecent teenage frivolity that is often characteristic of young and innocent lovers. Specifically, despite their numerous escapades and the irresistible temptation to experiment with things in life, in addition to the long hours the couple spend together on Sundays in the fields, Tiennon maintains a virtues life and upholds nothing but self-control and respect in the presence of his prospective future wife. Tiennon says that they often met in the fields on Sundays when there were no parties, and they used to spend long hours together but he made Therese his mistress in chapter 10, “…our relations never went beyond innocent hugs and numerous kisses (Guillaumin 60). Nonetheless, the two lovers were both young and shy, thus, timidity, modesty, and fear of consequences prevented them from consummating their love and, apart from that, Tiennon had the good intentions of making Therese his wife. Additionally, Tiennon does believe that believe that the spiritual (immaterial) forces, both official and unofficial, can influence the material world. Without doubt, Tiennon is aware of both his low socio-economic as well as educational status in life, which inevitably yields the inferiority attitude that overrides the entire peasant sharecropper-proprietor relationship on the farms leased. Most of the peasants fear that because of their low socio-economic and educational regard, they are inferior to the proprietors and they have to submit to their domination to survive on the farms and avoid being thrown out. However, Tiennon, like the rest of his family, resent the differential treatment of their kind as low lives and rebel against their domination by their proprietors, which earns them several removals from farms of proprietors who cannot tolerate being questioned by mere peasants. For instance, in chapter XI, Fouconnet sents Tiennon’s family packing from the Le Garibier farm, which forces Tiennon’s father to scout for another farm after he questioned Fauconnet’s honesty regarding the bran that was never bought yet its cost had been imposed on the family. This chapter reveals Tiennon’s attitude towards the rigid social structure that privileges the proprietors over the peasants thereby pitying the two classes against each other; for instance, Tiennon remarks the following. “It was only by taking advantage of the lower orders that he built himself up thus, from his ancestors he had received nothing; his father was a steward of an estate, and his grandfather a metayer like ourselves” (Guillaumin 61. There are clear hierarchies of power and authority defining the parent-child, husband-wife, and gender relations in this peasant society; just as the child is subservient to, and answerable to the parent, the wife too, is answerable to the husband while gender relations are rigid with males dominating the females in the social hierarchy. There is sufficient evidence that suggests that work in Tiennon’s society was divided according to gender, and with the gendered roles came a certain degree of social obligation on each gender. For instance, tasks like grazing cattle, milking cows, selling milk, attending shops and gathering nuts were feminine roles as Tiennon notes in chapter 18 that “…in the early mornings and in the evenings towards four o'clock, Victoire went to the town to sell the fresh milk…” (Guillaumin 99). However, soon after involvement in a nearly fatal accident, Tiennon is forced to do the task despite jeering, i.e., he says: “I resolved to take the milk round myself I had to endure a lot of jeering and chaffing from the people in the town, for it was unusual for a man to do that kind of thing. In the evenings the small boys would follow me in a band, shouting: " Look at the milk hawker ! Look at the milk hawker! Give us some milk, Tiennon” (Guillaumin 100). Masculine tasks in Tiennon’s society were also specified, as only men could work in blacksmiths’ shops, abattoirs, bake houses, and in the shops of sabot-makers; he says, “…the only apparent activity was in the blacksmiths' shops” (Guillaumin 99), the men were up working already and one could see the glowing of the forge and the fiery sparks. Family is a central social unit for this society as individuals stick together in love and unity against the challenges of peasant living under the domination of the proprietors. The family sticks together in love and harmony and separation is highly abhorred; Tiennon’s mother says that she would rather see Tiennon’s brothers dead than in the army (Guillaumin 37). In addition, when Tiennon expresses his sadness at leaving the family fold to start his own, he says, “I felt some emotion when I heard my mother's sobs and saw my father weeping silently” (Guillaumin 87). Family unity and collaboration at work is highly valued in this peasant society since their livelihoods actually depend on the working force available in each household; Tiennon remarks in chapter 8 that “after this double marriage our household was very strong, in women especially…My grandmother, my mother, Catherine, my two sisters-in-law made five, all capable of working” (Guillaumin 44). The courtship rituals in the peasants’ society included musk dances during wedding dinners, during which young men disguised in amusing costumes in the pretext of entertaining guests met up girls and danced together. The attitudes towards sex in this society are conservative and young men and women interact under the watchful eyes of the old guards; young people must undergo the rituals of courtship, which lead into marriage before engaging in sexual encounters. Masculinity to Tiennon means being able to fend for oneself through one’s own work rather than relying on provisions or favors, Tiennon leaves his family to earn his honor as a man. Then tells his father in chapter XV, “I have spent all my youth working for nothing: it is time that I earned some money by my work” (Guillaumin 86). Despite his family’s reservations about his leaving, Tiennon remains resolute in his decision to leave the family fold to stand on his own, particularly because he did not want to remain dependent on the limited household resources when his young siblings were fast growing up to take his place. He says, “I realized that when the little ones grew up, there would be too many of us for one household. It was very necessary therefore that I should earn my living somewhere else. I preferred to begin before I was any older” (Guillaumin 87). Furthermore, Tiennon remarks that it is necessary for people to abandon the things they enjoy unconsciously in their daily lives without really appreciating them to appreciate their value later since they may not last forever. He says, “…we have to change our way of living to appreciate at their true value the good things in the old way: for, in the monotony of daily existence we enjoy the better things unconsciously: they seem so much a matter of course that it never occurs to us that they may not continue” (Guillaumin 88). Tiennon prides himself in working and earning his livelihood as a man and the freedom that comes with being independent in life rather than asking for money and participating in the male bonding rituals that are pervasive in his society; evidently from the text, Tiennon does gives up the numerous male bonding rituals in his society. For instance, in chapter 17 he says: “…I quite gave up going to Saint-Menoux, and that seemed natural enough to my old friends, seeing I no longer lived in the commune, neither did I go to Autry, though that was my nearest town; I even avoided the Vijons, fearing that I might find people there who would tempt me to gamble” (Guillaumin 88). Violence does not play any significant role in shaping Tiennon’s masculinity in general since he chooses not to engage in needless qualms; for instance, he endures numerous embarrassing moments during his youthful amorous escapades, both at the hands of boys and girls, but does not retaliate. Additionally, despite the jeering he endures for engaging in feminine roles, he bears them lightly instead of exchanging fists, he says, “I realized that it was better not to take the rascals' impudence too seriously, and also to laugh at the jeers of the grown-ups” (Guillaumin 100). However, there are isolated incidences of violence in his life as he grows up, but even so, these are in self-defense as he says in chapter 26, “…I should certainly not have allowed myself to be thrashed without saying anything. But I was so taken by surprise that I had no idea of defending myself” (Guillaumin 93). Overall, Emile Guillaumin’s The life of a simple man, does capture the realities of peasants in the 19th century France society, and the writer does present a lucid yet grim picture of the peasants situation under the domineering proprietors. Work Cited Guillaumin, Emile. The Life of a Simple Man. London: University Press of New England. 1919, Print. Read More