The Perks of Being An Omniscient Narrator

The omniscient third person narrator of Némirovksy's Suite Française allows the novel to explore a multitude of characters on an internal level. A first person narrator would have been restricted to the inner workings of just one character and unable to achieve the scope that the author envisioned. With this tool, Némirovksy accurately addresses the human condition during this particularly chilling fragment of French history. The frustratingly narcissistic and smug Charlotte Péricand parades her superficial piety around Paris until the time comes when she realizes that her survival and that of her children will require her to shed her hollow faith and reveal "her bare, arid soul" (Suite Française 53). The haughty writer Gabriel Corte--famous among friends for his indifferent attitude--finds himself trembling in fear, not at the thought of sleeping in an attic but rather at the fact that "at any moment it could rain fire and death upon him" (Suite Française 45). The wealthier characters in the novel attempt to remain dignified even in their life threatening situation. They find themselves in a state of denial that they, heiresses and celebrities, could possibly die alongside "an old prostitute with painted eyes" or "a Belgian family who had arrived in a truck jammed with hen-coops" (Suite Française 47, 51). Death often acts as a leveler in literature and this novel is no exception. The realization of death, although latent, comes upon Charlotte and Gabriel just the same. Their reactions to this realization are where Némirovksy can explore the human condition, specifically the inevitability of death. The fearless Gabriel shakes at the thought of his end but refuses to break character in front of his mistress. The pious Charlotte, who had earlier encouraged her children to share with the less fortunate refugees, begins to threaten them as they attempt to live out the altruism that their mother had naively encouraged. In the face of death, the wealthy are on the same level as the impoverished. The faith that had come so easy in their lives is shed at first sight of true danger.