Paper Example. Boule de Suif by Guy de Maupassant

Created in 1979, Boule de Suif has become one of the renowned short stories by Guy de Maupassant. A book inspired by the war between Prussia and France in 1870, Maupassant brings out a unique array of characters and symmetrical structure masterpieces, as described by his mentor Gustave Flaubert. The novel brings together on a winter morning in Rouen ten travelers who represent easily distinguishable types in French society. Frightened and at the same time patriotic to their country, the citizens who are not able to cope up with the daily co-existence next to their enemies decide to seek refuge in a place they believed no German man exists. Determined to move to the far corner of France and England, their journey is one that is full of both satire and irony.

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Among the characters, some individuals belong to different orders: manufacturers, nuns, counts, wine merchants, one Democrat, and a woman called Boule de Suif (Maupassant 1905, n.p). The story revolves around the woman (Elizabeth Rousset), who turns out to be the person in which the nature of all the travelers is revealed. During the journey, Maupassant shows how people practice complete hypocrisy and forget what good others have done to them. This work will look into three characters and their role in the novel.

Elizabeth Rousset

Labeled as the ball of fat, Boule de Suif from the very first day of the journey shows kindness. As the only person bringing along drinks and food for the journey, she offers to share it with them despite their scornful manner. Even after her kindness, the travelers still did not show gratitude. The women traveling along also wish for a chance to at least throw her out together with her drinking cups and basket if not killing her. At a stop in the commercial Hotel in Totes, a Prussian officer residing in the hotel takes notice of her and seeks her services. To the travelers' surprise, she refuses the offer basing her reason on being a patriotic citizen thus cannot sleep with an enemy of France. The officer in revenge brings the journey to a halt, and what seemed like a night stop turns to an indefinite halt (Maupassant 1905, n.p). This act leads to anger and frustration, with most of the women wondering of what difference it will make if she gave in to the request being that she had slept with many men. The attempt to persuade her by one of the nuns fell on deaf ears. The wait continues until the third day when the count requests to take her for a walk. Using her kindness, flattery, logic, and guilt as a pivot of reasoning, the aristocrat- one of the best- manages to convince her to abandon her principles. She gives in to sleep with the officer at the expense of savings the other travelers. Even after resuming the journey, the travelers' pride still clouds their judgment, and instead of being grateful to Elizabeth, they continue despising her even more. The haste to leave Totes and all the confusion involved, Elizabeth fails to bring along any provision of her own. Expecting to be treated the same way she treated the travelers, she receives a great shock when none of them is willing to share their meal with her. Cornudet, who, despite having four boiled eggs, do not offer her any but rather taunts her by humming the Marseillaise.

Mr. Loiseau

A lower-middle-class wine merchant who is displayed as a man with two principal interests: cracking jokes wherever he can and selling wine whenever he can. He has huge hands and a big belly and is known for selling "bad wine at a good price." He is traveling to Harve for financial reasons and accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Loiseau. Being the least wealthy man in, he is placed between two democrats Cornudet. Mr. Loiseau is displayed as a silent boundary between the "social side" and the remaining passengers. He is the first passenger to accept the provision from Elizabeth and also the rum from Cornudet. His role in the story is crucial since he does act as the only connecting link between the two societal hierarchy classes of the travelers.

He also displays his business skills as he manages to convince the owner of the inn in Tote to be supplying wine when everyone is worried about the delay (Maupassant 1905, n.p). Mr. Loiseau also displays the character of one who loves to associate himself with other people's business. This occurs when he spies on Elizabeth when she is refusing the Cornudet. He is also moved by his principles to satisfy his body and wallet (he entice Elizabeth to get the desired food).

The Cornudet

Maupassant brings out the character of Cornudet as a man who claims to be a patriotic citizen but only by word of mouth, not actions. He is a rude, red-bearded French democrat who is free from social prejudice, a little dissolute, but generally honest. As the only politician traveling to Harve, he openly opposes Napoleonic imperialist rule and more than happy for the return of a French republic. He openly calls his fellow travelers scoundrel for the pressure that resulted in Elizabeth sleeping with the Prussian officer. Maupassant also displays the Cornudet as a character who, despite being expected to possess a revolutionary mindset, still possess opportunistic and selfish characteristics most of the travelers. He, however, shows a great deal of patriotism when he helps set up defenses around Rouen, but retreats to the city upon arrival of the Prussians. It is also to be noted that not on any occasion does he share a meal with Elizabeth during the entire journey, thus making his character worth being termed narcissistic. Generally, Maupassant gives the book a structure that reveals the pillars society has in common, which is their hypocrisy (Maupassant 1905, n.p).

Comparison between "Balls of Fat" and "The Necklace."

The story necklace by Maupassant reveals a woman, Mathilde Loisel, who is driven by the desire to live a life equal to that of her friend Jeanne. Upon an invite to a ball, she forces her husband to buy her a new dress using his savings. That not being enough, she requests for a necklace, but due to their financial situation, she is forced to borrow one from her friend. She ends up losing the necklace and has to pay for it by borrowing, a situation that sees the family go through a tough ten years. She later learned that the necklace was fake, and if only she were honest with Jeanne, she would not have paid the price for a new one (Maupassant 1905, n.p). Based on the two stories, the following characters are a good comparison of the villains in the stories, thus a suitable candidate.

Jeanne and Mr. Loiseau

Jeanne happens to resemble Mr. Loiseau since both are only interested in themselves. Just like Mr. Loiseau, she does not tell her friend of how genuine the necklace is, thus making her go through hell to pay for it. This act I term evil for it does not stop at seeing her friend replace the necklace with a genuine diamond but also see her suffer. Even after knowing that the replaced necklace was a genuine diamond, she does not care to inquire more about how it came to be.

Mathilde and the travelers in "Ball of Fat."

She is driven by her envy to live a life like her friend's Jeanne, even at the expense of using up all the savings they have. She forces her husband into debt to pay for a necklace that was not even real. The act can only be compared to the travelers in "balls of fat" who only saw their interest and forced Elizabeth into sleeping with the Prussian officer. They never took advantage of her kindness the same way Mathilde took advantage of her husband's kindness, thus making them Villains.

Work Cited

Maupassant, Guy de. "Ball-of-Fat." Short Stories of the Tragedy and Comedy of Life (1905).