François the uneven one

François uneven the is a novel written by Sophie Rostopchine, countess of Ségur, published in the form of serial in the Semaine of the children starting from May 4th 1864.

Summary

Christine carries out a “life of misery”, abandoned with the bad care of her good, Mina, by a more occupied mother of her toilets and her fashionable life and a too weak father.

M. of the Elms kept silence, as usual, in front of the opposition of his wife. She ran in her room to prepare her toilet of the following day. She did not think of Christine

Fortunately, it with the affection of his/her Gabrielle cousins and Bernard and especially that of François de Nancé, a young neighbor often rejected because of his bump.

Description

It is a novel often judged like one of blackest of the countess. Many dramatic events punctuate the narration that many adults judge too hard for young readers: the fate of the young person Maurice, the persecutor of Francois, is so horrible that the editor had asked the author to modify it, but in vain. However the novel was to be called the bad mother in reference to that of Christine, but this time the editor had win.

Like good number of the novels of the countess, this one is devoted to a criticism of education, opponent on a side the children too spoiled, forsaken or maltreated with the children who grow in a medium which can make the share of the affection and firmness. Besides Mr. de Nancé, the father of Francois, writes a treaty which speaks about “the education of the children, and the sacrifices that one must make them”. Thanks to rigorous education, but also with the love of his/her father, François learned how to accept his problem with good mood and to even face the mockeries.

Je am accustomed to intend to laugh at me. That does not do anything to me; it is only when dad is there that I am annoyed, because it is always sad when it intends to make fun of my bump. He likes me so much, this poor dad!

The countess of Ségur takes again here a expensive topic with the humanistic ones: appearance is nothing. A beautiful face can hide an unpleasant heart, a body perhaps counterfeits inhabited by a noble soul.

Curiously, the novel puts in scene one of the ideas which will be developed much later by Boris Cyrulnik on impact strength. Maltreated, given up, Christine finds a figure of attachment structuring in the person of Mr. de Nancé, who becomes a substitute of father. Besides she obtains without any difficulty of her own father the authorization of calling Mr. de Nancé “dad”. Its education, neglected, is taken again in hand; nourished well and surrounded, Christine opens out again.

External bond

Full text on WikiSource

Random links: