Dreams of the future life - Flaubert's Bouvard and Pequucet

Bouvard and Pecuche was Flaubert's last work and has long been neglected. However, this novel, whether ideological or artistic, shows many new characteristics that are different from the writer's previous works, that is, to a certain extent, naturalistic and modernist style characteristics.

The book begins the novel with the encounter of the two protagonists, and the scenery describes a dull and boring mood. Desert-like streets, inky black rivers, dazzling sunshine, hot and baking weather, noisy noises, and all kinds of descriptions give readers a feeling of breathlessness.

"Two gates, two rows of barrels, two men appeared." In such a short sentence, the narrator leads the two protagonists, Bouvard and Pequucet, to sit on a bench.

The two protagonists took off their hats due to the heat. They all bear their respective names on their hats, and it is this commonality that prompts the conversation between Puval and Pecuche.

They are all clerks. Shared careers, shared social status reinforce a sense of mutual trust. They are attracted to each other's characteristics, which are lacking in each other. Pecuche is attracted to Bouvard's cute side, and Bouval is attracted to Pecuche's serious side. Then they talked about their biggest preference, the countryside.

On the topic of the countryside, Pecuche unconsciously sighed: "How pleasant it should be in the countryside!" "Bouval, for his part, finds the hustle and bustle of the small cafés in the suburbs where people dance unbearable." But he has begun to get bored with the capital", the two protagonists have an urgent yearning for country life.

After exchanging opinions about the countryside, the description of the surrounding environment also changed. Bouvard and Pecuche saw the disgusting river water, emitting a putrid smell of underground tunnels. The surrounding environment is so dull, and the city is as boring as a desert.

However, the author's pen shifts sharply and begins a series of characterizations—drunken workers, middle-class weddings and their entourage, prostitutes, and soldiers. These characters condense the representatives of various typical figures in society, unfolding like puppet shows in front of Bouvard and Pecuche, while they are on the ground watching and commenting on everything.

As the plot progresses, the narrator slowly weakens the individual consciousness of the two protagonists and gradually integrates the protagonists together. The use of words "they", "theirs", "theirs", "so", and "consistent" also expresses the increasing commonality between the two protagonists.

The two were so similar that it was as if one were a copy of the other, just as their profession, the scribe, had later gone to the countryside to do the same theory of the manuscript in a step-by-step manner. Later in the novel, it is also arranged that Bouvard gets the inheritance, and Pecuche follows in Bouval's footsteps...

Since the publication of Bouvard and Pecuche, questions about the author's creative intentions have attracted the attention of critics, and we find a more obvious shift in Flaubert's creative style, that is, from the early realism to naturalism and even modernism.

The emergence of this transformation is related to the social environment at that time and the writer's family origin and growth experience, such as his early years were influenced by romanticism, and later influenced by scientism. Of course, it is also related to his ideas and unique literary and artistic views.

More importantly, Flaubert's transformation had a great influence on later writers, especially the New Novel School, and Flaubert himself occupied an important place in the history of literature.