The Profound Ideas of Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac Honore de Balzac published Pere Goriot in 1834 (1), one of the most important novels in his panoramic study of Parisian life, the Human Comedy. In Pere Goriot, Balzac's narrator oscillates between the role of social historian and that of moralist. While the presence of both observer and commentator may initially seem mutually exclusive, it is also a large part of what makes this novel interesting and entertaining. Balzac's readers, as flesh-and-blood human beings, do not routinely separate perception and judgment in their daily lives. By presenting profound ideas in a way similar to natural human expectations, Balzac's narrator achieves a particularly comfortable and effective relationship with readers. One of the central threads of Pere Goriot is the story of Eugene de Rastignac's rise from provincial obscurity to success in Paris. Along the way he learns a lot about Parisian society and human nature. In the following passage from Pere Goriot, Rastignac pursues success through fashionable clothing: Eugene had begun to realize the influence a tailor can have on a young man's life. It is a mortal enemy or a friend and, alas, there is no intermediate term between the two extremes. Eugene's tailor was one who understood the paternal aspect of his craft and saw himself as a link between a young man's past and future. The grateful Eugene finally made the man's fortune with one of those observations at which he would excel in later years: "I know two pairs of his trousers which have made matches each worth twenty thousand francs a year." franks and all the clothes he wanted to have! At this point the poor Southerner felt every doubt van...... middle of paper ......ank and the English mathematician Charles Babbage developed the "analytical engine", precursor of the modern computer.2 This quote by Henry Translation by Reed 1962, pages 99-100. (Honore de Balzac. Pere Goriot. New York: Penguin Books, 1981)3 Italics mine.4 Daedalus was a great inventor in Greek mythology who escaped from prison with his son Icarus by flying away on wings of feathers and wax. Not heeding the advice of his practical father, Icarus dared to fly close to the glorious sun. The wax wings melted and Icarus fell to his death into the sea below.5 A corollary is that no one who has not been to the "provinces" knows anything about human life, because a person who lives only in the city will know it. they also have a distorted perception.Work citedHonor de Balzac. Father Goriot. Translated by Henry Reed. New York: Penguin Books, 1981.