The Sunday of Life: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Sunday of Life: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the lives and personalities of key figures within the narrative. Central to the story is Valentin Brû, an unremarkable army private whose aspirations are modest, yearning to be a street sweeper rather than a soldier. His life takes a turn when he marries Julia, a middle-aged haberdasher who, despite her brashness and avarice, manipulates her way into a marriage with him. Their journey leads them to Paris, where they navigate the complexities of love, ambition, and societal expectations. The cast includes Julia’s sister, Chantal, who is equally ambitious, seeking to secure her daughter's inheritance through questionable means. Other notable characters, like Paul Bolucra, Chantal’s husband, grapple with issues of fidelity and career advancement, while the lively Nanette, their mother, brings a spirited presence to the narrative. Through these characters, the work explores themes of desire, mediocrity, and the bourgeois values of early 20th-century France, reflecting on how their aspirations and vices shape their lives.
The Sunday of Life: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Raymond Queneau
First published: Le Dimanche de la vie, 1951 (English translation, 1976)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Paris, France
Plot: Domestic
Time: The late 1930's and the 1940's
Valentin Brû (vah-lahn-TAN brew), an army private. Valentin is a very average young man whose real desire in life is to be a street sweeper. He allows himself to be courted by the middle-aged Julia and goes into shopkeeping when he marries her. They move to Paris, where Valentin runs a picture frame shop. He finds success when, disguised as a woman, he becomes a fortune-teller. He is drafted again as World War II approaches. The novel's last image presents him at a train station helping girls and young women into the crowded train and fondling them as he does so. Valentin would like to be a saint, but he is quintessentially a petit bourgeois character who is quite satisfied with the little pleasures of life.
Julia Julie Antoinette Segovie (ahn-twah-NEHT say-gohVEE), a middle-aged provincial haberdasher. The novel begins with her deciding to marry Valentin, a young soldier whom she has merely seen passing on the street. She succeeds in arranging this marriage, though she cannot take time away from business, so she sends Valentin on a honeymoon trip alone. She inherits a business in Paris from her mother but prefers to become a medium and allows Valentin to run the shop. She becomes ill and allows Valentin to replace her as “Madame Sophie.” Julia is a petit bourgeois character incarnating all the comic vices of her class: brashness, vulgarity, avarice, and scheming.
Chantal (shahn-TAHL), Julia's sister. She helps her sister in her marriage schemes, even going so far, apparently, as to sleep with Valentin's commanding officer to get Valentin's name. She is an attractive woman, loyal to her family, and her main desire is to see her daughter get her share of the inheritance that Nanette, her mother, leaves to Julia and Valentin.
Paul Bolucra (pohl boh-lew-KRAH), also called Botucat (boh-tew-KAH), Brodago (broh-dah-GOH), and Batraga (bah-trah-GAH), Chantal's husband. The author systematically changes the spelling of the last name of this functionary, an inspector of weights and measures, whose main concerns are whether he is a cuckold, the future of his daughter, and his promotions. He is promoted and is sent from Bordeaux to Paris, where he can consort with Valentin and worry if his wife is doing the same.
Marinette (mah-ree-NEHT), the daughter of Chantal and Paul.
Nanette, Julia and Chantal's mother. She is a lively old woman, which Valentin learns when he meets her, accidentally, on the return trip from Bruges, in Paris, where she is attending her lover's funeral. She leaves her Parisian shop to Valentin and Julia.
Captain Bordeille (bohr-DAY), Valentin's commanding officer. He is a representative of the gallant French soldier and seduces Chantal.
Sergeant Bourrelier (bew-rehl-YAY), another soldier. This friend of Valentin shares frequent drinks with him and comes to visit him in Paris.
Didine (dee-DEEN), a waitress. She gives Valentin advice about marriage and later wants to come to Paris.
Jean-sans-tete (zhahn-sahn-TEHT), or Jack-Lackwit in translation, an idiot. This mindless inhabitant of the eleventh arrondissement in Paris carries a broom and is a double for Valentin in his attempt to meditate on nothingness.