Viper in the Fist

When his grandmother dies, his parents come back from China (French Indochina in the 2004 film adaptation) where his father (Jacques) teaches law.

Paule tries to have her son caught red-handed for theft by intentionally leaving her wallet in Jean's bedroom.

Viper in the Fist, while short, is a vitriolic indictment of early 20th century French rural bourgeois society.

He depicts a family where hypocrisy is rampant and where observance of Catholic rituals is far more important than virtues like love or compassion.

While most portraits of common people seem good-hearted, depictions of the bourgeoisie and the ecclesiastical world are generally despicable.

The various priests as educators collaborate with the narrator's mother's cruel follies and betray their lack of virtue with venal acts such as fornication with young women.

The universe that Bazin depicts — rural bourgeois rentiers — is slowly dying, but the characters do not seem to recognize this.