A Structuralism Look at Maupassant’s My Uncle Jules.docx

A Structuralism Look at Maupassants My Uncle JulesThe French writer Guy de Maupasants short story My Uncle Jules should be put on the list of his best novels in the world. The objective description and the meaningful sarcasm in that work reflect the social reality in the later part of the 19th century. With changeable plot and vivid description, the author expresses naked money relationship among people successfully. In this report I attempt to analyze this short novel in the perspective of “binary oppositions” of Structuralism.In the beginning of the novel, the narrator tells us his family is not rich, they just managed to meet ends. “My father worked hard, came home late from the office, and earned very little.” And My mother suffered a good deal from our reduced circumstances, and she often had harsh words for her husband, veiled and sly reproaches.” Though the family has a poor condition, every Sunday, all the families would walk along the breakwater in their finest clothes in a genteel manner just like the people or upper class. With the vivid and humorous language, the writer shows us the opposition of the family between being rich and living a genteel life and the cruel reality. Every Sunday, when the big steamers were returning from unknown and distant countries, myfather would invariably utter the same words: what a surprise it would be if Jules were on that one! Eh? The same words uttered by my father showed that all the hope of changing the poor condition is in Uncle Jules far away. The invisible Uncle Jules became the best anticipation of all families. But in the past, he” is one of the greatest crimes.” The opposition of the different attitude towards Uncle Jules is vividly displayed.The letter from Uncle Jules gave the family the great anticipation towards life. This letter became the gospel of the family. It was read on the slightest provocation, and it was shown to everybody.” The miraculous letter even has a clerk decided to sue for one of the narrators sisters. They take Uncle Jules as the most intimately membership of the family. Thousands of schemes had been planned on the strength of this expected return; we were even to buy a little house with my uncles money -a little place in the country near Ingouville.”When the families take a trip, on the boat they saw the real Uncle Jules, who an old, ragged sailor was selling oyster, all their hope broke down. ”Good Jules”, “a good man, a kind-hearted fellow”, became a “vagabond”, “rogue”, “thief” and a “catastrophe”. The opposition is expressed