¶ … Gide -- The Immoralist. There are many options to choose from when it comes to the questions that can be answered. However, the question that was selected by the author was the sixth. Specifically, there will be a focus on the dramatic shifts and changes in the perceptions and priorities that occur with Michel throughout the book and how precisely Marceline figures into those changes. The book opens with Michel being rather focused on his father and his career and those two are inextricably linked. However, this overall perspective and point of analysis in Michel's life changes in a major way and this comes in several phases. While Michel is initially focused only on his archaeology and his father, his perspective and outlook is affected greatly after his arranged marriage is put into motion.
Analysis
Michel, given that he is the narrator, is clearly the most important person in the book. However, what happens after his arranged marriage to Marcelina is rather seismic and major. As such, it is important to not understate the importance and involvement of both Michel and Marcelina as the book progresses and moves along in terms of plot. The initial phase of the book reveals Michel speaking about his life to several of his colleagues. The initial phases of that life center, as was already noted, on his work and his father. Things start to move and fall into new places upon the revelation that Michel's father is about to die. The father is rather and concerned about his son and his prospects so he hastens the arrange marriage between his son and an available woman in a family that he has known for a long time. Up until this point, Michel has been an archaeologist and has lived a fairly solitary and isolated life. He has worked with his father a rather long time and it has...
The father is an
atheist but Michel had received a Hugenot upbringing from his mother. However, that
mother had died when Michel was rather young (Gide & Howard, 2016).
Upon the wedding to Marcelina, Michel basically acknowledges her existence but that is about it. He is rather disinterested in her overall and just seems to be going along with the wishes of his father more than anything else. During their honeymoon, Michel is initially preoccupied with his work and the impending passing of his father. However, something happens along the way. When Michael is on a
boat with his new bride that he has barely recognized as his spouse and he suddenly realizes that the woman, who is an orphan, is stunningly beautiful. Beyond that, she is extremely smart and well-educated. Michel has a bit of an
epiphany and realizes that the woman is her own person and has had her own experiences and rites of passage, not unlike Michel himself. Rather than perhaps being an annoyance or just something else to deal with, the marriage of Michel and Marcelina is actually a joining of two people with very diverse and positive backgrounds (Gide & Howard, 2016).
Another shift comes as the honeymoon moves. Michel starts to vomit blood. He conceals this from his new bride at first but eventually confides in her that he is not well. As it turns out, Michel has contracted tuberculosis and is quite ill. Upon this manifestation and realization, Marcelina immediately shifts her life and role to the caretaker of her husband. Fortunately for Michel, he beats the sickness and starts to get better. Up…
