No. 454: Quasimodo, the Freak of the Bell Tower: Love does not need sweet words, it is all expressed in action

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What is the so-called nobility? What is so-called lowliness? What is beauty? What is so-called ugliness? In the novel "Notre Dame de Paris" created by the French literary scholar Victor ▪ Hugo, I believe you can find the answer.

"Notre Dame de Paris" tells a story that took place in France in the 15th century, and The Vice-Bishop of Notre Dame de Paris, Claude ▪ Floro, the Girl of The Gigassé, Esmeralda, and quasimodo, the Camelman of the Bell Tower, are the three protagonists of the book. The love-hate entanglement and enmity between them let us understand the weakness, selfishness, roughness, cruelty, softness and warmth of human nature, and provide us with a new window for understanding the diverse and rich world.

On the first Sunday after Easter, Quasimodo Day, The Archbishop Claude ▪ Floro found the poor abandoned baby at the gates of Notre Dame. Moved by compassion, Claude ▪ Floro named the abandoned baby Quasimodo, adopted him as his adopted son and made him a bell ringer.

On April Fools' Day, wandering gypsy entertainers perform songs and dances in the square. Among them was a gypsy girl named Esmeralda, with a beautiful dance and a beautiful face, which attracted the attention of the crowd. Archbishop Claude fell in love with the girl at once, and he ordered Quasimodo to snatch her up, intending to take it for himself.

After the performance, Quasimodo followed Esmeralda all the way. When they reached the alley, Quasimodo began to carry out his own "kidnapping" act, and the wandering poet Grangual saw this and stepped forward to stop him, but he was knocked unconscious due to his weakness. Phoebes, the captain of the palace archery team, who passed by, rescued Esmeralda.

In the face of such a hero who "saw righteousness and courage", Esmeralda admired and respected him, and immediately fell in love with him. But what she didn't know was that Phoebes was actually a ruthless, frivolous, and ruthless prodigal. Stunned, Granguar gradually wakes up and enters the strange "Miracle Dynasty", which is full of beggars and scoundrels who have been discriminated against by society.

The beggars insisted on executing the poet who had trespassed. The "king" pointed out that the poet would execute a beggar woman unless he married him. However, no girl wants to marry a poet. In order to save the poet's life, Esmeralda volunteered to make the poet her husband.

At the same time, Quasimodo, who was instructed and exploited, was punished for kidnapping. He was whipped up in the square, thirsty and crying out for help, but ridiculed and ignored. Esmeralda saw this and gave Quasimodo water to drink. Quasimodo was touched and fell deeply in love with her in his heart.

The innocent Esmeralda fell in love with Phoebes at first sight and dated him. On the day of the date, Claude ▪ Flor quietly trailed and stabbed Phoebes with a knife, marrying Esmeralda. The innocent Esmeralda was arrested for murder, and she thought Phoebes was dead and sentenced to death by hanging.

On her way to the execution ground, Esmeralda saw Phoebes standing by the side of the road with a woman, looking indifferent. Such a heavy blow made Esmeralda's heart shake and she almost fainted to the ground. The bell tower monster, who has been silent, in order to save his beloved Esmeralda, openly rushed to the execution ground and hid it in Notre Dame Cathedral. Claude ▪ Floro plotted against Esmeralda, but Wasimo was spotted by Quasimodo.

From then on, Claude ▪ Floro decided that if he didn't get Esmeralda, he would destroy her. When the court heard the news of the robbery of the death row prisoner, it was greatly annoyed and furious, coupled with the provocation of the church, so it threatened to capture Esmeralda and sentence him to death. After a series of tribulations, Esmeralda was hanged. She said goodbye to a world of power struggles, false ugliness. A heartbroken Quasimodo, after seeing the hypocritical, terrible, ugly face of the vicar, pushed him from the top of Notre Dame's tower to avenge Esmeralda.

By appearance, Quasimodo is ugly. Abandoned by his parents at the entrance to Notre Dame Cathedral, he was a deformed child with a "geometric face, a tetrahedral nose, a horseshoe-shaped mouth, jagged teeth, one-eyed, deaf, hunchbacked, and an ugly and loyal voice."

Compared with ordinary people, Quasimodo is an unquestionable freak. He was silent, secretive, isolated, and isolated. It was not until Esmeralda appeared in his life that he broke free from the narrow and closed world, released the goodness, simplicity, bravery, and enthusiasm buried deep in his heart, and the noble elements of the soul were also revealed.

The Vice-Bishop's rebellious, scheming, despicable, and duplicitous style of conduct eventually deprived Him of Quasimodo's gratitude, trust, loyalty, and submission. After seeing claude ▪ Floro's true face, Quasimodo did not go along with the flow and go with the flow, but chose to stick to the goodness, integrity, light and morality hidden in his heart.

Esmeralda and the Vice-Bishop, two very different figures, opened Casimo's eyes, saw the distinction between good and evil, beauty and ugliness, strong and weak, good and evil, established his own value judgment system, and became a person with an independent personality, a complete person, a person who learned to love others and learned to accept the love of others.

Speaking of Notre Dame de Paris, Hugo said: "If there is any merit in this book, it is in the aspect of imagination, change, fantasy'". The peculiar structure, the grotesque plot, the rich imagination, and the three-dimensional characters are undoubtedly the outstanding features of this novel. In my opinion, the theme of this book is "destiny".

Whether it is Claude ▪ Floro or Quasimodo, they are all people in society, and they cannot survive alone without the real society. Their inner contradictions, conflicts, and desires undoubtedly reflect the divisions and hostilities between justice and evil, wisdom and ignorance, greed and temperance, theocracy and human rights, the vast and cold social rules, and the weak individuals who seek freedom. In the end, all the characters who cannot fully control their fate are sacrificed in the long journey of resistance.

The romantic contrast between beauty and ugliness is vividly reflected in "Notre Dame de Paris". Do you have the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this article?