La Curee

French author Emile Zola was noted for his realistic portrayals of human beings in his novels and short stories. In his novel La Cur-e, he tells a story about the failings of the modern world, particularly in what is valued in modernity as opposed to periods in the past. Modern people all value money, material possessions, and satisfaction of personal desires and hungers. So consumed are people with these desires that they ignore anything which might hinder them, including ethics and morals. In the past, Zola, insinuates people cared more about family and honor, but in the present it is only money that matters. Through the relationships that Aristide Saccard has with his first wife and second wife, as well as in comparison with P-re Goriot from Balzac's novel Le Pe-re Goriot, it is clear that Zola is showing that valuing money above all other things is a...
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