Posted by Rich on April 09, 19103 at 04:39:48:

In Reply to: Re: thesis about pierre posted by Juli on March 26, 19101 at 08:38:49:

: : thanks a million for information about
: : pierre, and , if possioble, a thesis.

: Pierre, a happy young man, has a open and loving relationship to his mother, is deeply in love with the beautiful young lady Lucy, lives in the country, sorrounded by impressing nature and has nothing serious to worry about. One day he receives a letter from a woman, claiming to be his fatherīs illegitimate daughter. Pierre thinks his fate strikes him and his fate decides to leave all the happiness behind him. At this point his misery begins. He himself and his half-sister pretend to be married because Pierre sees this as the only way of being able to preserve his fatherīs good reputation and to save his mother from a deep shock. As Pierre has never learned any trade in order to earn money, he decides to earn a living for Isabel, Delly Ulver - an outcast Pierre and Isabel have taken with them - and himself by becoming an author. Instead of simply writing a book in order to have success and get money, the author Pierre even tries to find the ultimate truth. To him the book is not only a simple book, but his way of giving something special - the truth - to society. But it is this book and his ambiguous live he is leading that he is becoming mad about. For weeks he sits in his chamber, freezing, hardly eating anything, driven by the need and the obsession to finish his book. In the end Pierre kills his own cousin - their relationship has become a relationship characterized by hatred after all that has happened - and in prison Isabel and himself commit suicide. Lucy dies from the shock of finding out about Pierre and Isabel, being brother and sister.

: You want truth? You get ambiguities! You want happiness? It does not last! You want love? You get ! In a way Melville mocks the situation and perfectly fools the reader. Interesting to examine: Is Melville fooling the reader or is "Pierre" to be taken serious?

I think Melville intended this to be funny, and it is in some places hilarious (Rubicon and Lucy at The Apostles chapters especially). Why haven't more people examined this vein? Rich.

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