The Red and the Black

“For all his pride, the mayor had to enter into lengthy negotiations with old Sorel, a tough and stubborn peasant if ever there was one.”

M. de Rênal embodies the reactionary values of the Bourbon Restoration, believing himself to be the social better of a peasant like Sorel due solely to his birth. When he bargains with Sorel, however, he is confronted with an uncomfortable truth. The old peasant is a better negotiator and possesses a keener mind than the mayor. M. de Rênal dislikes Sorel precisely begins Sorel’s existence confounds the mayor’s views on the legitimacy of social order.

“But then who am I going to have my meals with?”

Sorel may have a keener mind than M. de Rênal, but Julien possesses a keener mind than his father. While Sorel has negotiated good terms for his son’s employ, Julien knows that his father will not tolerate him being treated like a servant. The real victory, both Sorels eventually agree, is not so much the wage but the increased social standing of dining with the de Rênal family.

“At that moment M. de Rênal began to throw stones to drive off a peasant girl who had taken a wrong path and was crossing the corner of the orchard.”

Rather than speak to the girl as though she were a human, M. de Rênal throws rocks to remove her from a path as though she were an animal. The narrator does not linger on the moment, nor do any other characters think this strange, suggesting that this casual violence against peasants is commonplace. Julien’s rage against the unfair social order is thus justified, but rather than seeking to build a more equitable world, he seeks only to elevate himself.