Things: concepts and characteristics

¶ … Economy in Europe

Perec and Monnet on the European Economy

In April of 1950, Monnet and some other "Europeanist" enthusiasts launched the Schuman Plan, which tied the European nations of France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg together as partners in a plan to freely buy and sell Coal and Steel between them. This was the basis of the Council of Europe and the beginning of free trade between France and Germany, who had always fought bitterly over economy and trade, as well as the other European nations. The economic miracle transformed European life in radically different ways.

Monnet, the organizer of Action Committee for the United States of Europe, pushed the member states of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) toward fuller economic integration. The ESCS promoted the European common market and worked toward a united Europe that would extend beyond The Six, a dream which ultimately came true.

Monnet, speaking to the members of the Common Assembly and members of the Consultative Assembly, declared that the Common Assembly of European nations were working cohesively as one country, a country of 150 million consumers of coal and steel, a number that equaled the population of the United States of America. They had enacted treaties abolishing customs duties and quota restrictions between themselves and had set up the first Common Market. They had been recognized as a new force by Great Britain and the United States.

Monnet quoted President Eisenhower as saying "the uniting of Europe is a necessity for the prosperity of Europeans and for the peace of the whole world." (Monnet 118) He urged all European nations to join. He claimed that they are not just producers of goods, but that they have a responsibility to set up a European Community that is comprehensive and includes Great Britain.

He laid out the three main issues with which the Common Assembly concerned itself, one of them being to prepare the ways and means for enabling workers to share in the advantages of an improved and increased production.

He reinforced the goal of bringing Great Britain into partnership with the other nations in the Common Assembly. He stated that the reality of the Common Assembly embodied a hope. "Because, for men, reality is only satisfactory when it fulfils their hopes at the same time."

He was proud of the fact that for the first time the European nations could go to the United States without asking for anything, and that when other countries in Europe had seen and understood what this new and living Europe meant for them, "they will, one of these days, I hope, themselves join in." (Monnet 559).

The Common market benefited everyone in many ways. People in European nations found that goods were cheaper, life was easier and work was plentiful. These "yuppies" and their counterparts in the United States, lived the good life, coming from the small towns to live in the suburbs of the large cities that were the hubs of commerce.

George Perec (1936-1982) represents one of the youth of that age, who was deeply affected by his sudden emergence from poverty into "the good life." He was a writer and one of those who struggled with the dichotomy of their upbringing during the WWII and the new upsurges in consumerism that filled the world at that time. Perec's book, a runaway best-seller in France, which, in 1965 was awarded the Prix Renaudot, Le Choses (Things) brought him into the limelight and he became a writer.

The young people of the day, introduced to a bit of wealth, were quickly caught up in earning and spending. Perec was one of the ambiguous ones who wanted to both be a dreamer and a consumer. His writings reflect this and in the book, Things: A Story of the Sixties & A Man Asleep, he writes a story of a young couple who get caught up in desiring consumer goods and Things in the story called Things: A Story of the Sixties (Perec, 2002).

Money, sometimes, consumed them entirely." The young couple begins to enjoy the comsumer life. However, not only did they become consumers, but they were consumed themselves. "They tried to run away," but once they got jobs, they enjoyed the good things too much. Even as they enjoyed them they sensed they were giving in to the bad. As they try to run away, they found themselves becoming enmeshed in the life and succumbing to its ties.

In Section II of the story, "Things could have carried on in the same way," but of course, things change. Even as they settle down into the good life, there is the hint of future regrets to come. The story talks constantly about "them" and what "they" do. They feel they are living, but they limit how much of real life is allowed to come into their consciousness. Algeria and France's disagreement colors the general news of the time, depressing all France. It is mentioned in the book, but is not part of the couple's consciousness. They are possessed by memories of their past and its innocence.