L'enfance d'un chef ("The Childhood of a Leader")

It was finally a literature class that made me read my first Jean-Paul Sartre. I think that without that I would never have decided to do it.

But I must admit that this long short story surprised me. It wasn't just heavy and philosophical (because it was), but catchy, original, and very well written. And at about 150 pages and a small $4, you're not risking much.

Summary

Lucien Fleurier is the child of a company director. He was born for one purpose: to become a leader too, to replace his father at the head of the company when he dies. But the problem is that he doesn't really feel like a leader. In fact, people often mistake him for a little girl when he's little. He's a little soft, a little oversensitive, a little weak. He figures that when he takes over the company, the employees will laugh at him. He absolutely has to find a way to awaken his leadership nature.

As a teenager, he discovered psychoanalysis. He immersed himself in it and knew so much about it that he felt superior to everyone else. It is a way like any other. But an unfortunate incident (which I will let you discover) makes him doubt again. Then, an employee of his father's company seems attracted to him, and he gets some satisfaction from it. He knows that he could sleep with her if he wanted to. He is from a rather high social class, which he also likes.

And one day, he discovers the extreme right-wing circles. It was on the eve of the Second World War, and Europe was experiencing a wave of anti-Semitism. Fascinated by these ideas, he threw himself into the movement. He soon became the most hateful of the anti-Semites. People respect him. Finally, he is a real leader.

Impressions

Please do not think that this story is an apology for the extreme right, on the contrary. It is a highly ironic story. There is nothing respectable about Lucien. His anti-Semitism is sickening. I wondered if I would feel the same nausea when reading Nausea.

I found it brilliant how Sartre gets his point across. He explains how an ordinary person can find himself in such extreme movements, and what he can get out of it. He is not driven by noble feelings. What he gets out of it is far from glorious. He becomes in fact dangerous.

The writing is particular. It is in the third person, but very intimate with the character. We have access to his thoughts very closely, and not to those of others. It gives us a narrow point of view, which corresponds perfectly well to reality. It's a bit the fact of being caught in one's own head and not being able to enjoy (at least not directly) the thoughts of others that explains the hatred and the misunderstanding.

The story is strange, quite fascinating, and the ending is striking. This novel made me understand anti-Semitism in a whole new way. That's not a small feat.