Melanie LaFavre
Family, Community, and Class
Men and Manhood: Crying
Main Point: In the story My Father’s Life by Nicolas-Edme Retif we are confronted with male sensitivity continuously, especially in the main character Edmond Retif. There is a question of whether this sensitivity was actually present or if it was an exaggeration on the part of the author. Either way it is made clear that male sensitivity was almost celebrated and at least was taken as proof of a man’s virtuous nature.
Historical Change: Through the story of My Father’s Life there is a distinct change in sensitivity from Pierre to his son Edme. There is only one instance in the entire story where we are told of Pierre Retif crying. This event occurs directly after he whips his son for flirting with a girl; Edme goes outside and finds his father weeping and admonishing himself for having been too hard on his son. It is quiet obvious by the way the scene is set up that Pierre had no intention of anyone seeing him crying, and his son’s reaction was “so surprised at seeing his father’s tears that he felt that the whole world had turned upside down” (Retif, 17). This tells us that even if Pierre did shed tears often he at least made sure that his children did not know of it. Edme on the other hand is depicted as the epitome of sensitivity. Through the story, we see him crying about the deteriorated condition of his horse, the love he (occasionally) felt from his father, the overwhelming love for a woman, and the death of his father. Not only do we see the character in the story crying, but often times Nicolas Retif takes the time to add in how his father would cry while recounting stories of his younger days, “Whenever Edmond recalled this scene [seeing Pierre cry], tears filled his eyes and he would bless his father for being so strict.” (Retif, 17). Not only did Edme cry often, but he also told his children tales of times he cried and cried in front of them him. The huge leap in sensitivity and compassion from Pierre to Edme is astounding and undeniable.
Representation by Observer: Nicolas Retif obviously loved his father Edme deeply and valued him as a superior representation of the morals and virtues that can be found among farmers and country folk. Retif is quite persistent throughout the story in displaying his father as a virtuous, moral, caring, and compassionate man. It is obvious that Retif uses the examples of his father crying as proof of his compassionate and caring nature and values this as one of his many virtues. Retif makes his feelings about his father’s tendency to cry quite clear by the glowing terms he describes his father in directly before recounting a tale of his crying, “This is the story my worthy father would tell us over and over again in our childhood.” (Retif, 11). He also made sure to refute the idea that his father’s crying may have been unnecessary or an over display of emotion, “Shall I tell of the tears he shed when he saw how a splendid horse had become a bag of bones in his absence? Why should such a display of emotion towards a useful animal, which repays friendship with friendship as well as with its labor, be considered ridiculous?” (Retif, 15). Nicolas makes is quite clear to the readers that his father shed tears often and that through this we cannot deny that he was a good and caring man.
Reality of the Observed: Nicolas Retif does not do a very effective job of hiding the fact that he is trying to display his father as a representation of the moral and virtuous uprightness of country peoples in 18th century France. There are many instances in the story that he takes the time to point out the seemingly old fashioned virtues of country people, “Bibi meanwhile was serving them some light refreshment. It is still the custom in the country to show this kind of hospitality, which people in olden days were renowned for and which was absolutely essential. It is only spoken of with wonder in Paris as a strange or outdated custom.” (Retif, 94). With this in mind it is hard to accept the light that Retif portrays his father in as entirely true. It is quite possible that Retif exaggerated about his father throughout the story in an attempt to make him an undeniably virtuous man and thus prove to the city folk that virtues and morals were alive in the country. Although we have no direct proof that Retif exaggerated about his fathers weeping, we must look at the work with a critical mind and keep Retif’s intentions in writing the book in mind while reading and evaluating it.
Historians’ Differing Interpretations: While reading My Father’s Life one cannot help but question how honestly Retif is portraying his father. Both Emmanuel Le Roy Laudrie and Robert M. Schwartz wrote evaluations of the story which affirm the fact that Retif did have a tendency to stretch the truth, the difference is that Schwartz seems to uphold this as a necessary part of the message that Retif was trying to send about country people, while Laudrie almost scolds Retif for lying. Schwartz glowingly applauds Retif’s work by saying, “In casting the peasant as hero it carried notions of equality further than most other writers of the day dared to go.” (Schwartz, 20). Meanwhile Laudrie goes through the book making sure to point out every detail that could be proved to be false, “Edme after all, although his son paints a flattering picture of his prowess as a husbandman, never harvested more than six quintals of grain to the hectacre.” (Laudrie, 215). So although it seems to be widely known that Retif did in fact indulge to truth the question is whether or not this was a necessary or justified action.
Connections: Paintings by Greuze done in the 18th century, such as The Departure of the Nursing Child, show a common tendency to add emotionality to peasant situations where none truly exist. In The Departure of the Nursing Child, Greuze depicts the scene of an infant being sent to a wet-nurse to be cared for, the mother of the child is desperately reaching out to it, seemingly destitute at the departure of her child. This was a very common scene in the 18th century, all except for the desperate nature that the mother is depicted in, mothers sent their children to wet nurses full well know that they could die on the journey, but the emotionality of the event just was not present.[1] This sheds light on the tendency of contemporary observers in 18th century France to add emotionality to events that may not have actually been experienced in such a poignant way.
Works Cited
Ladurie, Emmanuel. The Mind and Method of the Historian. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1981.
Retif, Nicolas. My Father’s Life. Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, 1986.
Schwartz, Robert. The Peasant as Hero: Rousseau, Restif de la Bretonne, and the Representation of Rustic Virtues. South Hadley, MA: Mount Holyoke College, 1999.