The Son (Simenon novel)  

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Le Fils (1957, English: The Son) is a roman dur by Georges Simenon. It tells the story of a father who writes a letter to his son and a black secret that he wishes to confess.

Contents

Plot

Shortly after the death of his father, Alain Lefrançois decides to write a letter to his son, Jean-Paul, who is about to become a man.

He tells his son about the life of his grandparents, people from the upper middle class, about his job, which satisfies him, and about his married life, which is only half successful. When recalling recent family disputes concerning the succession, he goes back to the period of his law studies in Poitiers, of his mobilization, of his marriage; he evokes his reactions when he learned that he was going to be a father.

Finally, Lefrançois comes, "in spite of its repugnance", to speak about his adolescence and his youth which is burdened by a secret. Being the son of a prefect, as a young man he felt different from the others because the parents of his friends depended on his father.

Out of a need for change, he befriended Nicolas, one of the most disadvantaged young people in society, and sometimes went to see prostitutes, which he confessed to his father.

Shortly afterwards, Nicolas, transformed by the fact that he has a real mistress, comes to offer him her friend. Alain does not take long to fall in love with that girl and obtains the complicity of his father to facilitate his affair.

He makes the young girl pregnant. With the help of a vaginal probe lent by his friend Nicolas, who is a medical student, he tries to abort her, but there is an accident: the girl dies in his arms.

He first hides the body, then confesses the tragedy to his father, whom he urges to call the police. The father refuses, and despite the protests of his son-in-law, accuses himself instead of Alain. What does he have to lose, he who is already almost a finished man? This sacrifice will earn him five years in prison (reduced to an effective sentence of three years), but the father has thus saved his son's future.

It is on this example of total abnegation that Alain Lefrançois ends his confession. Perhaps Jean-Paul will not read it until much later? What does it matter? It is in all serenity that the final words are formulated: "Good evening, son.

Particular aspects of the novel

The epistolary narration, in the first person, is clearly after the events, since the letter is dated Paris, November 1956. The father's confession to his son reflects on the grandfather, who died at the time of the story, a paternal love that the absolute of "purity" will push to the most heroic self-forgetfulness.  

Work description

Space and time frame

Space

La Rochelle. References to Poitiers, also to Cannes.

Time

Between 1926 and November 1956.

The characters

Main character

Alain Lefrançois. Graduate in law, actuary in a large insurance company. Married, one son. Age 48.

Other characters

  • Alice Lefrançois, née Chaviron, his wife
  • Jean-Paul Lefrançois, his son, 16 years old
  • Nicolas, friend of the main hero in 1928
  • Maud, Alain Lefrançois' mistress in 1928, 18 years old.

Article connexe

Liste des œuvres de Georges Simenon




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "The Son (Simenon novel)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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