feat_summary_path: finished_summaries/shmoop/The Red and the Black/section_4_part_0.txt
feat_book_id: The Red and the Black.part 1.chapter 5
feat_summary_id: part 1, chapter 5
feat_summary: {"name": "Part 1, Chapter 5", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20200920104425/https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/red-and-the-black/summary/part-1-chapter-5", "summary": "Mr. Sorel tells Julien the details of his new job with the de Renals. Julien says he doesn't want to be a servant though, and if he lives in the de Renals' house, he must eat supper at their table with them. When Sorel goes to discuss things with Julien's older brothers, Julien thinks about running away. We learn that Julien has an incredible memory, and that he has memorized the entire New Testament of the Bible by heart. Monsieur Sorel goes back to the mayor and makes all kinds of new demands for his son, not because he wants what's best for Julien, but because he likes to make the mayor pay as much as possible. All of these demands just confirm the mayor's belief that other rich men in town have offered Julien a position. He's determined not to be outbid. When he gets home, Mr. Sorel can't find Julien. Julien has gone to visit a friend named Fouqe in order to leave his books with him for safekeeping. When he gets back, his father orders him to go to the mayor's house immediately. Julien thinks that he should stop at the Verrieres church on his way to the mayor's house. This isn't because he's religious, but because he likes to keep up appearances. You see, Julien is a really ambitious young man. He used to have dreams of becoming a great soldier, but then he realizes just how much power and influence that priests and bishops actually had in France. So he decided to put himself on the road to becoming a priest. That's how he first started hanging out with Father Chelan, learning theology, and memorizing the Bible. When he kneels inside the church, Julien realizes that he might be taking the coward's way out by giving up on his life as a soldier. Then again, he's too scared to take all the risks involved. Meanwhile, Madame de Renal worries herself sick about her children's new tutor. She can only imagine an ugly, cruel man who will beat her kids for messing up their grammar.", "analysis": ""}
text: CHAPTER V
  
  A NEGOTIATION
  
  
      Cunctando restituit rem.--_Ennius_.
  
  
  "Answer me without lies, if you can, you damned dog, how did you get to
  know Madame de Renal? When did you speak to her?"
  
  "I have never spoken to her," answered Julien, "I have only seen that
  lady in church."
  
  "You must have looked at her, you impudent rascal."
  
  "Not once! you know, I only see God in church," answered Julien, with
  a little hypocritical air, well suited, so he thought, to keep off the
  parental claws.
  
  "None the less there's something that does not meet the eye," answered
  the cunning peasant. He was then silent for a moment. "But I shall
  never get anything out of you, you damned hypocrite," he went on. "As a
  matter of fact, I am going to get rid of you, and my saw-mill will go
  all the better for it. You have nobbled the curate, or somebody else,
  who has got you a good place. Run along and pack your traps, and I
  will take you to M. de Renal's, where you are going to be tutor to his
  children."
  
  "What shall I get for that?"
  
  "Board, clothing, and three hundred francs salary."
  
  "I do not want to be a servant."
  
  "Who's talking of being a servant, you brute, do you think I want my
  son to be a servant?"
  
  "But with whom shall I have my meals?"
  
  This question discomforted old Sorel, who felt he might possibly commit
  some imprudence if he went on talking. He burst out against Julien,
  flung insult after insult at him, accused him of gluttony, and left him
  to go and consult his other sons.
  
  Julien saw them afterwards, each one leaning on his axe and holding
  counsel. Having looked at them for a long time, Julien saw that he
  could find out nothing, and went and stationed himself on the other
  side of the saw in order to avoid being surprised. He wanted to think
  over this unexpected piece of news, which changed his whole life,
  but he felt himself unable to consider the matter prudently, his
  imagination being concentrated in wondering what he would see in M. de
  Renal's fine mansion.
  
  "I must give all that up," he said to himself, "rather than let myself
  be reduced to eating with the servants. My father would like to force
  me to it. I would rather die. I have fifteen francs and eight sous of
  savings. I will run away to-night; I will go across country by paths
  where there are no gendarmes to be feared, and in two days I shall be
  at Besancon. I will enlist as a soldier there, and, if necessary, I
  will cross into Switzerland. But in that case, no more advancement, it
  will be all up with my being a priest, that fine career which may lead
  to anything."
  
  This abhorrence of eating with the servants was not really natural to
  Julien; he would have done things quite, if not more, disagreeable in
  order to get on. He derived this repugnance from the _Confessions_
  of Rousseau. It was the only book by whose help his imagination
  endeavoured to construct the world. The collection of the Bulletins of
  the Grand Army, and the _Memorial of St. Helena_ completed his Koran.
  He would have died for these three works. He never believed in any
  other. To use a phrase of the old Surgeon-Major, he regarded all the
  other books in the world as packs of lies, written by rogues in order
  to get on.
  
  Julien possessed both a fiery soul and one of those astonishing
  memories which are so often combined with stupidity.
  
  In order to win over the old cure Chelan, on whose good grace he
  realized that his future prospects depended, he had learnt by heart the
  New Testament in Latin. He also knew M. de Maistre's book on The Pope,
  and believed in one as little as he did in the other.
  
  Sorel and his son avoided talking to each other to-day as though by
  mutual consent. In the evening Julien went to take his theology lesson
  at the cure's, but he did not consider that it was prudent to say
  anything to him about the strange proposal which had been made to his
  father. "It is possibly a trap," he said to himself, "I must pretend
  that I have forgotten all about it."
  
  Early next morning, M. de Renal had old Sorel summoned to him.
  He eventually arrived, after keeping M. de Renal waiting for an
  hour-and-a-half, and made, as he entered the room, a hundred apologies
  interspersed with as many bows. After having run the gauntlet of all
  kinds of objections, Sorel was given to understand that his son would
  have his meals with the master and mistress of the house, and that
  he would eat alone in a room with the children on the days when they
  had company. The more clearly Sorel realized the genuine eagerness of
  M. the Mayor, the more difficulties he felt inclined to raise. Being
  moreover full of mistrust and astonishment, he asked to see the room
  where his son would sleep. It was a big room, quite decently furnished,
  into which the servants were already engaged in carrying the beds of
  the three children.
  
  This circumstance explained a lot to the old peasant. He asked
  immediately, with quite an air of assurance, to see the suit which
  would be given to his son. M. de Renal opened his desk and took out one
  hundred francs.
  
  "Your son will go to M. Durand, the draper, with this money and will
  get a complete black suit."
  
  "And even supposing I take him away from you," said the peasant, who
  had suddenly forgotten all his respectful formalities, "will he still
  keep this black suit?"
  
  "Certainly!"
  
  "Well," said Sorel, in a drawling voice, "all that remains to do is to
  agree on just one thing, the money which you will give him."
  
  "What!" exclaimed M. de Renal, indignantly, "we agreed on that
  yesterday. I shall give him three hundred francs, I think that is a
  lot, and probably too much."
  
  "That is your offer and I do not deny it," said old Sorel, speaking
  still very slowly; and by a stroke of genius which will only astonish
  those who do not know the Franche-Comte peasants, he fixed his eyes on
  M. de Renal and added, "We shall get better terms elsewhere."
  
  The Mayor's face exhibited the utmost consternation at these words. He
  pulled himself together however and after a cunning conversation of
  two hours' length, where every single word on both sides was carefully
  weighed, the subtlety of the peasant scored a victory over the subtlety
  of the rich man, whose livelihood was not so dependent on his faculty
  of cunning. All the numerous stipulations which were to regulate
  Julien's new existence were duly formulated. Not only was his salary
  fixed at four hundred francs, but they were to be paid in advance on
  the first of each month.
  
  "Very well, I will give him thirty-five francs," said M. de Renal.
  
  "I am quite sure," said the peasant, in a fawning voice, "that a rich,
  generous man like the M. mayor would go as far as thirty-six francs, to
  make up a good round sum."
  
  "Agreed!" said M. de Renal, "but let this be final." For the moment his
  temper gave him a tone of genuine firmness. The peasant saw that it
  would not do to go any further.
  
  Then, on his side, M. de Renal managed to score. He absolutely refused
  to give old Sorel, who was very anxious to receive it on behalf of his
  son, the thirty-six francs for the first month. It had occurred to M.
  de Renal that he would have to tell his wife the figure which he had
  cut throughout these negotiations.
  
  "Hand me back the hundred francs which I gave you," he said sharply.
  "M. Durand owes me something, I will go with your son to see about a
  black cloth suit."
  
  After this manifestation of firmness, Sorel had the prudence to return
  to his respectful formulas; they took a good quarter of an hour.
  Finally, seeing that there was nothing more to be gained, he took his
  leave. He finished his last bow with these words:
  
  "I will send my son to the Chateau." The Mayor's officials called his
  house by this designation when they wanted to humour him.
  
  When he got back to his workshop, it was in vain that Sorel sought his
  son. Suspicious of what might happen, Julien had gone out in the middle
  of the night. He wished to place his Cross of the Legion of Honour and
  his books in a place of safety. He had taken everything to a young
  wood-merchant named Fouque, who was a friend of his, and who lived in
  the high mountain which commands Verrieres.
  
  "God knows, you damned lazy bones," said his father to him when he
  re-appeared, "if you will ever be sufficiently honourable to pay me
  back the price of your board which I have been advancing to you for so
  many years. Take your rags and clear out to M. the Mayor's."
  
  Julien was astonished at not being beaten and hastened to leave. He
  had scarcely got out of sight of his terrible father when he slackened
  his pace. He considered that it would assist the role played by his
  hypocrisy to go and say a prayer in the church.
  
  The word hypocrisy surprises you? The soul of the peasant had had to go
  through a great deal before arriving at this horrible word.
  
  Julien had seen in the days of his early childhood certain Dragoons
  of the 6th[1] with long white cloaks and hats covered with long black
  plumed helmets who were returning from Italy, and tied up their horses
  to the grilled window of his father's house. The sight had made him mad
  on the military profession. Later on he had listened with ecstasy to
  the narrations of the battles of Lodi, Arcola and Rivoli with which the
  old surgeon-major had regaled him. He observed the ardent gaze which
  the old man used to direct towards his cross.
  
  But when Julien was fourteen years of age they commenced to build a
  church at Verrieres which, in view of the smallness of the town, has
  some claim to be called magnificent. There were four marble columns in
  particular, the sight of which impressed Julien. They became celebrated
  in the district owing to the mortal hate which they raised between
  the Justice of the Peace and the young vicar who had been sent from
  Besancon and who passed for a spy of the congregation. The Justice of
  the Peace was on the point of losing his place, so said the public
  opinion at any rate. Had he not dared to have a difference with the
  priest who went every fortnight to Besancon; where he saw, so they
  said, my Lord the Bishop.
  
  In the meanwhile the Justice of the Peace, who was the father of a
  numerous family, gave several sentences which seemed unjust: all these
  sentences were inflicted on those of the inhabitants who read the
  "_Constitutionnel_." The right party triumphed. It is true it was only a
  question of sums of three or five francs, but one of these little fines
  had to be paid by a nail-maker, who was god-father to Julien. This man
  exclaimed in his anger "What a change! and to think that for more than
  twenty years the Justice of the Peace has passed for an honest man."
  
  The Surgeon-Major, Julien's friend, died. Suddenly Julien left off
  talking about Napoleon. He announced his intention of becoming a
  priest, and was always to be seen in his father's workshop occupied
  in learning by heart the Latin Bible which the cure had lent him. The
  good old man was astonished at his progress, and passed whole evenings
  in teaching him theology. In his society Julien did not manifest other
  than pious sentiments. Who could not possibly guess that beneath this
  girlish face, so pale and so sweet, lurked the unbreakable resolution
  to risk a thousand deaths rather than fail to make his fortune. Making
  his fortune primarily meant to Julien getting out of Verrieres: he
  abhorred his native country; everything that he saw there froze his
  imagination.
  
  He had had moments of exultation since his earliest childhood. He would
  then dream with gusto of being presented one day to the pretty women
  of Paris. He would manage to attract their attention by some dazzling
  feat: why should he not be loved by one of them just as Buonaparte,
  when still poor, had been loved by the brilliant Madame de Beauharnais.
  For many years past Julien had scarcely passed a single year of his
  life without reminding himself that Buonaparte, the obscure and
  penniless lieutenant, had made himself master of the whole world by the
  power of his sword. This idea consoled him for his misfortune, which
  he considered to be great, and rendered such joyful moments as he had
  doubly intense.
  
  The building of the church and the sentences pronounced by the Justice
  of the Peace suddenly enlightened him. An idea came to him which made
  him almost mad for some weeks, and finally took complete possession of
  him with all the magic that a first idea possesses for a passionate
  soul which believes that it is original.
  
  "At the time when Buonaparte got himself talked about, France was
  frightened of being invaded; military distinction was necessary and
  fashionable. Nowadays, one sees priests of forty with salaries of
  100,000 francs, that is to say, three times as much as Napoleon's
  famous generals of a division. They need persons to assist them. Look
  at that Justice of the Peace, such a good sort and such an honest man
  up to the present and so old too; he sacrifices his honour through the
  fear of incurring the displeasure of a young vicar of thirty. I must be
  a priest."
  
  On one occasion, in the middle of his new-found piety (he had already
  been studying theology for two years), he was betrayed by a sudden
  burst of fire which consumed his soul. It was at M. Chelan's. The
  good cure had invited him to a dinner of priests, and he actually let
  himself praise Napoleon with enthusiasm. He bound his right arm over
  his breast, pretending that he had dislocated it in moving a trunk of a
  pine-tree and carried it for two months in that painful position. After
  this painful penance, he forgave himself. This is the young man of
  eighteen with a puny physique, and scarcely looking more than seventeen
  at the outside, who entered the magnificent church of Verrieres
  carrying a little parcel under his arm.
  
  He found it gloomy and deserted. All the transepts in the building had
  been covered with crimson cloth in celebration of a feast. The result
  was that the sun's rays produced an effect of dazzling light of the
  most impressive and religious character. Julien shuddered. Finding
  himself alone in the church, he established himself in the pew which
  had the most magnificent appearance. It bore the arms of M. de Renal.
  
  Julien noticed a piece of printed paper spread out on the stool, which
  was apparently intended to be read, he cast his eyes over it and
  saw:--"_Details of the execution and the last moments of Louis Jenrel,
  executed at Besancon the...._" The paper was torn. The two first words
  of a line were legible on the back, they were, "_The First Step_."
  
  "Who could have put this paper there?" said Julien. "Poor fellow!" he
  added with a sigh, "the last syllable of his name is the same as mine,"
  and he crumpled up the paper. As he left, Julien thought he saw blood
  near the Host, it was holy water which the priests had been sprinkling
  on it, the reflection of the red curtains which covered the windows
  made it look like blood.
  
  Finally, Julien felt ashamed of his secret terror. "Am I going to play
  the coward," he said to himself: "_To Arms!_" This phrase, repeated so
  often in the old Surgeon-Major's battle stories, symbolized heroism to
  Julien. He got up rapidly and walked to M. de Renal's house. As soon
  as he saw it twenty yards in front of him he was seized, in spite of
  his fine resolution, with an overwhelming timidity. The iron grill was
  open. He thought it was magnificent. He had to go inside.
  
  Julien was not the only person whose heart was troubled by his arrival
  in the house. The extreme timidity of Madame de Renal was fluttered
  when she thought of this stranger whose functions would necessitate
  his coming between her and her children. She was accustomed to seeing
  her sons sleep in her own room. She had shed many tears that morning,
  when she had seen their beds carried into the apartment intended for
  the tutor. It was in vain that she asked her husband to have the bed of
  Stanislas-Xavier, the youngest, carried back into her room.
  
  Womanly delicacy was carried in Madame de Renal to the point of excess.
  She conjured up in her imagination the most disagreeable personage, who
  was coarse, badly groomed and encharged with the duty of scolding her
  children simply because he happened to know Latin, and only too ready
  to flog her sons for their ignorance of that barbarous language.
  
  
  [1] The author was sub-lieutenant in the 6th Dragoons in 1800.
  
  
  
  
  
  
feat_summary_name: Part 1, Chapter 5
target: Mr. Sorel tells Julien the details of his new job with the de Renals. Julien says he doesn't want to be a servant though, and if he lives in the de Renals' house, he must eat supper at their table with them. When Sorel goes to discuss things with Julien's older brothers, Julien thinks about running away. We learn that Julien has an incredible memory, and that he has memorized the entire New Testament of the Bible by heart. Monsieur Sorel goes back to the mayor and makes all kinds of new demands for his son, not because he wants what's best for Julien, but because he likes to make the mayor pay as much as possible. All of these demands just confirm the mayor's belief that other rich men in town have offered Julien a position. He's determined not to be outbid. When he gets home, Mr. Sorel can't find Julien. Julien has gone to visit a friend named Fouqe in order to leave his books with him for safekeeping. When he gets back, his father orders him to go to the mayor's house immediately. Julien thinks that he should stop at the Verrieres church on his way to the mayor's house. This isn't because he's religious, but because he likes to keep up appearances. You see, Julien is a really ambitious young man. He used to have dreams of becoming a great soldier, but then he realizes just how much power and influence that priests and bishops actually had in France. So he decided to put himself on the road to becoming a priest. That's how he first started hanging out with Father Chelan, learning theology, and memorizing the Bible. When he kneels inside the church, Julien realizes that he might be taking the coward's way out by giving up on his life as a soldier. Then again, he's too scared to take all the risks involved. Meanwhile, Madame de Renal worries herself sick about her children's new tutor. She can only imagine an ugly, cruel man who will beat her kids for messing up their grammar.