Two Sides of France

While reading Èmilie Carles’  A Life of Her Own, and having the thought of Suite Française in my head, comparisons were plentiful between the works. First and foremost was the comparison of how parents dealt with loss. Carles’ father refused to truly acknowledge the pain of loss and did not let himself dwell on it, such as when Catherine died and he went straight back to working on the farm instead of letting himself mourn. All the farmers in the book were like this, treating the death of their child as an inevitable event that could not get in the way of making a living for them and their family- the loss of a calf that could be sold evoked more emotion in them. On the other hand, the parents in Suite Française were broken by the loss of a child, as the Michauds were lost without their son who had left for war, and Mrs. Angeillier became hard and almost insane with the absence of her son. Suite Française also seemed much more innocent than A Life of Her Own, as there were no gory death scenes and life quickly gets back to peace and normality once the Germans came, while Carles recount tales of farmers killing themselves to avoid being a burden and children and mothers dying because of the unwillingness of their families to ask for help. The two books together showed two sides of France and how the difference in class and customs between them dictated how the people lived and the problems that they faced.