The Body-Obstacle the Paradigm of Exclusion in Zola's Bell of Paris

Abstract

The body of Florent Quenu, the principal character in die Belly of Paris, appears from the beginning as an obstacle: material and symbolic. It is a body in excess. He never manages to become embedded in the social context. He is always someone on the margin. After returning to Paris, this old convict goes off to find the Old Paris. He nevertheless ignores the upheaval of die architecture of Paris brought on by the great works of Baron Haussmann. Thus he appears in die novel as a stranger in every sense of die term. Even his corpulence makes him different from others. Florent represents a Thin person in a country of Fat people. In spite of die efforts diat he has made, he cannot adapt to'die this environment diat stifles him. He revolts against die bourgeois mentality which is based on die necessity of earning money and getting fat. When his revolt takes a more complete form, he sees that he is limited in his activity by the forces of order that condemn him again to imprisonment. Thus, the bourgeois system expulses from its bosom that which constitutes a perturbing element in order to rapidly regain the calm that is conducive to good digestion.