I read Balzac's story "Gobsek". In this story, the author talks about the life story of Gobsek. This man was engaged in usury in Paris. He saw nothing wrong with his profession and devoted himself entirely to it. During his life, Gobsek met many people. He saw worthy people on the verge of poverty, rich people who deserved contempt. Gobsek sincerely admires honest people. He tries to make money on everything and everyone. He even agrees to lend money to his friend Derville at interest.
Over the course of his life, there remains less and less in Gobsek’s character. positive qualities. The people around him cause him less and less sympathy. He does not want to give the inheritance to the young Count de Resto. But in this work, not only Gobsek suffered from a thirst for money, but also Countess de Resto. In the heat of anger at her dead husband, out of fear for the future of her children, she burns her husband’s papers. Because of this, the entire inheritance passes into the power of Gobsek. The narrator tries to get Gobsek to return de Resto's inheritance, but Gobsek refuses to do so.
At the end of his life, Gobsek turns out to be a lonely rich man. He is insanely rich, but lives a miserable lifestyle. After his death, the narrator discovered untold wealth. It was gold gems, pates, sausages, coffee beans, sugar, spices and much more. The worst thing was that most of the food was spoiled. Gobsek, due to his irrepressible greed, could not agree on a price with the merchants in order to sell them these goods. As a result, they deteriorated and disappeared without bringing any benefit.
This was precisely the destructive power of money over Gobsek and over Countess de Resto.
The work of Honore de Balzac became the pinnacle of the development of Western European realism XIX century. Creative manner the writer has absorbed all the best from such masters artistic word, like Rabelais, Shakespeare, Scott and many others. At the same time, Balzac introduced a lot of new things into literature. One of the most significant monuments of this outstanding writer became the story "Gobsek". The story reflected in concentrated form Balzac's understanding of the laws of the bourgeois world, which came to him during his work in a notary's office. The writer saw from the inside and therefore could so vividly depict the entire “oil-oiled mechanism of any wealth.” And in his story he reveals the whole essence of bourgeois society, where robbery, betrayal, and dirty machinations are the law. With all the force of drama, the author demonstrates countless tragedies generated by the dominance of buying and selling relations in society, typical conflicts based on “omnipotence, omniscience, all the goodness of money.” The struggle for fortune no longer becomes an addition or detail, but the basis of the plot, the central idea of the entire narrative. Main character story - a millionaire moneylender - one of the rulers of new France. His image is very complex and contradictory. “Two creatures live in him: a miser and a philosopher, a vile creature and a sublime one,” says lawyer Derville about him. The hero's past is rather uncertain: perhaps he was a corsair and sailed all the seas and oceans, trading in people and state secrets. Full of mysteries as well real life. The origins of his untold wealth are unknown. But one thing is beyond doubt - this is an exceptional, strong personality, endowed with a deep philosophical mindset. Gobsek is able to notice small details and judge the world, life and people with unique insight. These qualities of the hero are, in a sense, even attractive to the author. However, unfortunately, Gobsek directs his mind and insight in the wrong direction. Exploring the laws of the world, he comes to the conclusion that “all the forces of humanity are concentrated in gold... what is life if not a machine driven by money? Gold is the spiritual essence of the entire society.” It is around money that all social life revolves; all people’s thoughts are directed towards gold. And having come to such an understanding of the laws of life, Gobsek makes such an ideology a guide to his own actions. Money completely enslaved his mind and thoughts. “This old man,” says Derville, “suddenly grew in my eyes, became a fantastic figure, the personification of gold.” Yes, Gobsek’s cult of gold is sanctified by the philosophically meaningful power of money and evokes some social activity of the hero. However, gold had already become for him the very goal and content of his entire life, gradually displacing from his soul all the positive principles that, perhaps, could have manifested themselves under other circumstances. By lending money at incredibly high interest rates, the moneylender openly robbed people, unscrupulously taking advantage of their distress, extreme poverty and complete dependence on him. Callous, soulless, he no longer became even just a cruel person, but an “automatic man,” a “bill man.” The destructive principle contained in the accumulative passion, the passion for money, caused Balzac’s irreconcilable critical attitude towards the bourgeoisie, which sought to assert its dominance in society with the help of gold. The image of Gobsek became for its creator the living embodiment of that powerful predatory force that uncontrollably made its way to power, stopping at nothing, using any, even the most base and vile means to achieve its goal, and not doubting itself for a second. The author tried to understand the essence of this force, its origins, in order to reveal all its foundations as clearly and truthfully as possible, to expose it, show it to the world in all its meanness and baseness, to awaken human consciousness, morality, morality in people. The writer strongly criticizes the material interests on which the policy was based, state power, laws. And he does this so convincingly and truthfully that from his books, according to F. Engels, we learn more “than from the books of all specialists - historians, economists, statisticians of this period, combined.”
The work of Honore de Balzac became the pinnacle of development Western European realism XIX century. The writer's creative style absorbed all the best from such masters of artistic expression as Rabelais, Shakespeare, Scott and many others. At the same time, Balzac introduced a lot of new things into literature. One of the most significant monuments of this outstanding writer was the story “Gobsek”.
The story reflected in concentrated form Balzac's understanding of the laws of the bourgeois world, which came to him during his work in a notary's office. The writer saw from the inside and therefore could so vividly depict the entire “oil-oiled mechanism of any wealth.” And in his story he reveals the whole essence of bourgeois society, where robbery, betrayal, and dirty machinations are the law. With all the force of drama, the author demonstrates countless tragedies generated by the dominance of buying and selling relations in society, typical conflicts based on “omnipotence, omniscience, all the goodness of money.” Fight for
the state no longer becomes an addition or detail, but the basis of the plot, the central idea of the entire narrative.
The main character of the story is a millionaire usurer - one of the rulers of the new France. His image is very complex and contradictory. “Two creatures live in him: a miser and a philosopher, a vile creature and a sublime one,” says lawyer Derville about him. The hero's past is rather uncertain: perhaps he was a corsair and sailed all the seas and oceans, trading in people and state secrets. His real life is also full of mysteries. The origins of his untold wealth are unknown. But one thing is beyond doubt - this is an exceptional, strong personality, endowed with a deep philosophical mindset. Gobsek is able to notice small details and judge the world, life and people with unique insight. In a sense, these qualities of the hero are even attractive to the author. However, unfortunately, Gobsek directs his mind and insight in the wrong direction. Exploring the laws of the world, he comes to the conclusion that “all the forces of humanity are concentrated in gold... what is life if not a machine driven by money? Gold is the spiritual essence of the entire society.” It is around money that all social life revolves; all people’s thoughts are directed towards gold. And having come to such an understanding of the laws of life, Gobsek makes such an ideology a guide to his own actions. Money completely enslaved his mind and thoughts. “This old man,” says Derville, “suddenly grew in my eyes, became a fantastic figure, the personification of gold.” Yes, Gobsek’s cult of gold is sanctified by the philosophically meaningful power of money and evokes some social activity of the hero. However, gold had already become for him the very goal and content of his entire life, gradually displacing from his soul all the positive principles that, perhaps, could have manifested themselves under other circumstances. By lending money at incredibly high interest rates, the moneylender openly robbed people, unscrupulously taking advantage of their distress, extreme poverty and complete dependence on him. Callous, soulless, he no longer became even just a cruel person, but an “automatic man,” a “bill man.”
The destructive principle contained in the accumulative passion, the passion for money, caused Balzac’s irreconcilable critical attitude towards the bourgeoisie, which sought to assert its dominance in society with the help of gold. The image of Gobsek became for its creator the living embodiment of that powerful predatory force that uncontrollably made its way to power, stopping at nothing, using any, even the most base and vile means to achieve its goal, and not doubting itself for a second. The author tried to understand the essence of this force, its origins, in order to reveal all its foundations as clearly and truthfully as possible, to expose it, show it to the world in all its meanness and baseness, to awaken human consciousness, morality, morality in people. The writer strongly criticizes the material interests on which politics, state power, and laws were built. And he does this so convincingly and truthfully that from his books, according to F. Engels, we learn more “than from the books of all specialists - historians, economists, statisticians of this period, combined.”
The accuracy and breadth of the depiction of French reality is combined by Honore de Balzac with the depth of penetration into internal patterns public life. It reveals the class conflicts of the era and reveals the bourgeois nature of the social development of France after the revolution of 1789. In the images of merchants, moneylenders, bankers and entrepreneurs, Balzac captured the appearance of the new master of life - the bourgeoisie. He showed people who were greedy and cruel, without honor or conscience, making their fortunes through open and secret crimes.
The pernicious power of capital penetrates into all spheres human life. The bourgeoisie subjugates the state (“Dark Affair”, “Deputy from Arsi”), rules the countryside (“Peasants”), and extends its pernicious influence on the spiritual activity of people - on science and art (“Lost Illusions”). Destructive action financial principle” also affects people’s private lives. Under the poisonous effect of calculation, the human personality degrades, family ties and family disintegrate, love and friendship collapse. Selfishness that develops on the basis of monetary relations becomes the cause of human suffering.
The harmful effects of money on human personality and human relations with great artistic expression shown in the story “Gobsek”.
At the center of the story is the wealthy moneylender Gobsek. Despite his million-dollar fortune, he lives very modestly and secluded. Gobsek rents a room reminiscent of a monastic cell in a gloomy, damp house that was formerly a monastery hotel. On interior decoration his home, his entire way of life bears the stamp of strict economy and moderation.
Gobsek is lonely. He has no family, no friends, he broke all ties with relatives, because he hated his heirs and “didn’t even think that anyone would take possession of his fortune, even after his death.” One single passion - the passion for accumulation - has absorbed all other feelings in his soul: he knows neither love, nor pity, nor compassion.
Balzac uses the details of the portrait to reveal the inner essence of his hero. In Gobsek’s appearance there is immobility, deadness, detachment from all earthly things, human passions combined with something predatory and sinister. Ash-yellow tones and comparisons with precious metals make it clear to the reader that it was the passion for gold that destroyed the human element in him, making him dead during his lifetime.
The story depicts the social environment in which Gobsek operates; the two opposite poles of his contemporary society are precisely outlined. On the one hand, the poor, honest workers, doomed to a dull existence (the seamstress Fanny Malvo, the lawyer Derville), on the other, a handful of rich people who spend their days in pursuit of luxury and pleasure (the young Comte de Tray, Countess de Resto), whose moral character presented in a sharply repulsive manner.
Possessing extensive practical experience and a penetrating mind, Gobsek deeply comprehended the inner essence of his contemporary society. He saw life in its nakedness, in its dramatic contrasts, and realized that in a society where there is a struggle between rich and poor, genuine driving force social life is money. Gobsek says: “What is life if not a machine that is set in motion by money,” “of all earthly goods there is only one, reliable enough for a person to chase after it. Is this gold". Gobsek's passion for hoarding is a natural product of the bourgeois system, a concentrated expression of its inner essence.
Using the example of Gobsek, Balzac shows that money not only kills the human personality, but also brings destruction to the life of the entire society. Gobsek, isolated in his cell, is not at all as harmless as it might seem at first glance. His moral: “It’s better to push yourself than to let others push you.”
The destructive nature of Gobsek's hoarding is revealed with stunning force at the end of the story. Towards the end of his life, his greed turns into an insane mania. He becomes an insatiable “boa constrictor”, without a trace absorbing various gifts brought by clients. When, after Gobsek’s death, his storerooms were opened, it turned out that huge masses of goods lay rotting in them without any use.
The writer masterfully shows those destructive processes that take place both in the spiritual and in material spheres bourgeois society.
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money. It's amazing how money changes and enslaves people! “If the king himself owed me, Countess, and did not pay on time, I would sue him...” - this is what the moneylender Gobsek says to Countess de Resto, who is ruining her children for the sake of the scoundrel Maxime de Tray. The moneylender is entertained by the opportunity to look into the innermost depths of the human heart, into someone else's life without embellishment. An ingot of metal in the hands of a human automaton is equivalent to a human heart: “I see only hunted deer, chased by a whole pack of lenders.” The secret price of bills falling into the hands of a moneylender is despair, stupidity, rashness, love or compassion. Gobsek compares his clients to actors giving a theatrical performance for him, and himself to God, reading in their hearts. He loves to stain the carpets of luxurious houses with his dirty shoes - not out of petty pride, but to make him feel the clawed paw of Inevitability.
Gobsek believes that there is nothing vicious on earth, there are only conventions, only the feeling invested by nature is unshakable - the instinct of self-preservation. Of all earthly goods, he singles out only one thing that is reliable enough to be worth pursuing - gold. And his only joy is vanity. Gold in embryo contains human vices and whims, material possibilities. Gobsek's gold owns the world, this is his happiness and joy, he has fun controlling the destinies of people and observing their passions. The moneylender claims that he is rich enough to buy the conscience of clients, to control all-powerful ministers. Gobsek is the ruler of the destinies of Parisians, quiet, unknown to anyone. For him, all life is a machine that is set in motion by money, gold is the spiritual essence of the whole society. But the moneylender hates his heirs and does not allow the thought that someone will become the owner of his fortune.
None of his neighbors know whether he is poor or rich, or whether he has relatives or friends. Due to excessive secrecy and caution, Gobsek refused his own gold coin, which fell out of his pocket and was kindly picked up by a neighbor. His wrinkles keep the secret of terrible trials, sudden terrible events, unexpected successes, wealth and ruin, mortal dangers. The moneylender tried every opportunity to get rich, even trying to find gold buried in America.
Over the years, Gobsek, who became rich, turned into a secret behind seven seals, into a golden idol, not knowing that in the world there is a woman’s love and happiness, feelings, there is God. For Gobsek, the world existed only in order to travel around it and rummage it, weigh it, evaluate it and rob it. But everything is, of course, relative. And Gobsek dies in all alone, and, as you know, you can’t take money and palaces with you to the grave.