The story of the French writer Francois Mauriac "The Monkey", a summary of which is offered to your attention, was created in 1951 and subsequently translated into many languages of the world. In the center of the plot lies the fate of a twelve-year-old boy who has been ill since birth, lagging behind in development from his peers. It was not only nature that treated young Guillaume unfairly. The baby does not feel the love and support of loved ones, is constantly attacked by his own mother.
Descendant of a noble family
Thin chicken neck, short-cropped head with large ears, drooping lower lip, from which drooling constantly - this is the portrait of the youngest offspring of the Baron de Cernay family. The mother calls her son a monkey, a geek, a degenerate and other offensive nicknames. In addition, the boy constantly gets slapped and slapped by a woman who hates him just as much asown husband. No wonder, because Guillaume is an exact copy of his father, who suffers from a mild degree of dementia.
In the book "The Monkey" Mauriac Francois does not give an exact definition of the disease of Baron Galeas, but describes the appearance of a man: a huge head that is not tall, narrow sloping shoulders, unnatural thinness. There are also oddities in the behavior of M. de Cernay. During family meals, he smears everything that can be smeared on plates, mixes wine with soup, and crumbles bread and other products there. The old baroness, Galeas's mother and Guillaume's grandmother can hardly keep the boy from imitating his father.
Evil Fury Madame de Cernay
In the castle, where a pious family lives, scandals constantly break out. The troublemaker is Guillaume's mother, whose name is Paul. The unfortunate boy suffers the most, it is on him that the wrath of a woman dissatisfied with her fate is directed. A bilious face, covered with a dark fluff along the chin and upper lip, sleek dark hair - this is how the heroine of Mauriac's work "The Monkey" looks like. The summary of the story of her appearance in the house does not arouse sympathy in the reader.
Thirteen years ago, Paul married an ugly baron only to intermarry with a noble aristocratic family. Unable to share a bed with an eccentric husband, Madame de Cernay takes out her anger on others. Households behind her back call her a monster, a monster, a Gorgon. Little Guillaumehated by his mother, he seeks protection from his grandmother, father and maid of honor, serving in the castle. But only the elderly maid of honor treats the boy with genuine tenderness and sincere love.
In Mauriac's story "The Monkey", a summary of which cannot contain all the nuances of the oppressive situation in the house, the relationship between the baron and his wife is mildly spoken about: only once Paul answered her husband's embrace, as a result, their son Guillaume was born.
A faint ray of hope
Despite the developmental delay, the boy mastered the basics of literacy. He was twice sent to private boarding houses, but they did not want to keep a sick child there - Guillaume soiled the sheets. Paul arranges with a secular school teacher who lives near the castle to deal with her son individually. It was not easy for the closed kid to decide on a meeting with Mr. Bordas, whom he dubbed the "cannibal" in his imagination. Ignoring his son's tears and pleas, on a rainy autumn evening, Paul takes him to his first lesson.
It turns out the teacher isn't that scary after all. After two hours of communication with him, the boy gained confidence in his own abilities, the hope of finding a new friend, a kind and understanding mentor dawned. That night Guillaume fell asleep for the first time in his short life with a smile on his lips. How I would like to put an end to this bright note in the story of Francois Mauriac "The Monkey". The summary of the last chapter tells about the gloomy events that turned into a tragedy.
Release from mental anguish
The next morning, under pressure from his wife, who was uncomfortable with the sight of the little Baron de Cernay, Robert Bordas sends a note to the castle announcing his refusal to deal with a sick child. In the house, a scandal between mother and grandmother flares up again. Paul throws insults at his worthless son and half-witted husband.
In order not to hear malicious remarks, his father takes Guillaume outside. They go to the family cemetery, to which Galeas devotes all his free time, caring for the graves of his ancestors. The baron takes up his usual work, and the boy, sitting on the gravestone, cannot hold back his tears, mourning his uselessness. After all, even the teacher who was so kind and attentive does not want to study with him.
Somewhere in the distance, a river roars. This sound attracts Guillaume, and he hurries with a confident gait towards liberation from physical abuse and mental suffering. The father, noticing the absence of his son, goes in search of him. Galeas, no less than his boy, was tired of a bleak earthly existence. The depths of the river took the lives of the last two representatives of the de Cernay family.
"Since Mr. Galeas, taking his son by the hand, decided to share his eternal sleep with him, no one cares about the graves in the family cemetery." Thus ends the story of Mauriac "The Monkey", a summary of which you have just read.
