RMST202-Literature Review

Taken on Robson street, this little banner is a great reminder as we enter the middle of the semester that everything will work out just fine!:)

Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan appears at first to be a classic tale of a spoiled teenager longing for the days in which she was the main focus of her father’s life and rebels against the new motherly figure in her life. I think it would be easy to diagnose Cecile as a classic whiny, privileged, teenage girl but upon further inspection, Bonjour Tristesse as a novel is much more than that. Cecile as a character is reaching a turning point in her life as she exits childhood and enters the realm of adulthood, but just before she can Anne is introduced into the picture. Like most teenagers, Cecile is young, selfish, and lacks empathy for those around her. This is not to say she is a bad person, she is simply a young woman who has yet to experience the consequences of her actions. I think ultimately the book tells the story of a girl who yearns for guidance and approval but also the freedom to choose and express her own opinion. Cecile is stuck in a dichotomy and because of this, she makes numerous mistakes that eventually lead to the fatal climax of the story. 

Throughout the novel, Cecile is repeatedly treated as an accessory or pet by many of the characters in the novel. Overall, I think the struggle of the novel has less to do with how Cecile feels about her father and Anne’s relationship and more to do with her own struggle to be treated like a person with real feelings and opinions.

This is Stinky, given name, William. But who has ever met a cat who goes by their given name? no one, because cats have a tendency to accumulate odd nicknames that suit them better. Anyway, Stinky is not my cat, he is my roommate’s girlfriend’s cat but he is still cute enough to make it to the blog post.

Cecile’s story is one of control and becoming the master of her own life as well as the lives of the people around her. Only when her plans come to fruition does she realize that with agency comes responsibility and she is solely responsible for the consequences of her actions. The book ends with Cecile coming to the painful conclusion that her actions not only have consequences but the people she has invoked her plans have feelings and emotions and the individuals around her are not simply there for her own manipulation. Bonjour Tristesse is a classic coming-of-age tale with a tragic twist that leaves the reader feeling introspective of their own life at seventeen.

Question: What do you think of Cecile as a narrator and how would you diagnose her character arc?