Like Mother, Like Daughter

While reading about Madam Péricand's mother, I couldn't help but be intrigued (amused, even) by how similar they seemed to be in their gluttony and absurd obsession with wealth. We had read about Madame Péricand's love of status and material goods in this and previous sections, emphasized in the way she always made sure that she had her silver and linens and money safely near her even when she left her father-in-law behind. Now, reading about her mother, I can see how she may have acquired the trait. Madame Craquant is described mainly as a large woman who takes joy in funerals because it means that she could stop by a tearoom and indulge in several sweet treats. She watched the wealth of her daughter's family, observing it "with great fidelity..."because it was bigger than her own, but refused to donate any of what she did have even though she had a "stock of supplies" in her enormous cupboards.

A person is more often than not a product of their environment, and if Madame Pericand grew up surrounded by this obsession with money and hunger- both literal and figurative- for material things, her character begins to make more sense. Her mother was satisfied to sit in her wealth while others suffered, and even when her grandson died, she was sadly satisfied that the whole town would be go to the funeral. Her daughter found comfort in knowing that people though her sons were heros and she pretended “she had sent her son off to war.” They do not seem to feel pain, but rather an undying desire to be looked up at and envied for what they have, and it was interesting to see this paralleled in the two characters.