The Immoralist

Although The Immoralist is a 20th-century novel, it was published only two years into the century, and its literary style reflects 19th-century trends. The frame narrative that opens the novel, a story that introduces the main story, is a common structure in 19th-century literature. The frame narrative creates suspense by hinting that the narrative to come will reveal Michel’s immoral acts, setting up the central mystery of the novel: how could Michel, a “bookish puritan of old” (10), turn into the scandalous subject of the letter? The frame narrative also provides an urgent reason for the novel’s main story to be told. The first-person narrator of the main narrative, Michel, speaks in a confessional tone because he is retelling his life story to his friends. This gives the reader a more intimate understanding of Michel’s interiority, both because he explains the reasons for his actions and because he is addressing old friends whom he trusts.

Gide was writing during a period when the discipline of psychology was still developing—Sigmund Freud, for example, began to posit his theories of psychoanalysis in the 1890s. Gide’s development of Michel’s psychology may be influenced by psychoanalysis, in that Gide pays particular attention to how Michel’s upbringing shaped him. Michel believes that “the austerity I had inherited from my mother’s indoctrination I brought to bear on my studies” (16), suggesting that he transferred his mother’s religious fervor into his own devotion for academia. The narrator continues to allude to his upbringing as a source of his troubles throughout the novel, implying that his mother’s strictness and his father’s thrift cause Michel to rebel against their ideals as an adult.

In these chapters, there are early hints that Michel is gay and also sexually attracted to boys. First, Michel does not consummate his marriage immediately after his wedding. He claims it is because he does not know his wife well enough and because he is not yet in love with her, but the fact that he specifically mentions their lack of physical intimacy suggests that he may not be attracted to her. Furthermore, in Biskra, he admires the healthy bodies of local boys, going so far as to state that he “fell in love” with the Bachir’s “beautiful health” (26). During this period, being gay and being a pedophile were often conflated due to the anti-gay bias of the era. Gide denounces neither Michel’s sexual interest in men nor his interest in boys, but he does portray them as equally taboo.

Gide reveals the psychology behind Michel’s interest in boys: his initial fascination with them derives from his desire to be healthy. The contrast between his sickly, weak body and Bachir’s healthy, youthful body causes Michel’s attraction to Bachir. Bachir has what Michel desires for himself. Bachir’s blood is a symbol of the boy’s vitality, and his carelessness with his own blood shows his youthful innocence. Cutting himself with a knife is not a reason for fear; instead, he finds it entertaining: “He just laughed it off, showing off the glistening cut and watching the flow of blood with an air of amusement” (26). The image of Bachir’s blood, shining and moving in comparison to the dead blood Michel coughs up, causes Michel to realize that he wants to keep living and spurs him to find a cure for his tuberculosis.

Michel’s tuberculosis and how he copes with it simultaneously reveal his inexperience and his desire for agency. Until he travels with Marceline, he has led a sheltered life that, he states, “made me feeble and protected me from illness at the same time” (17). His lack of previous illnesses reflects his inexperience with the world. His tuberculosis and his recovery from it become a significant turning point in his life, as the illness is his first brush with death. Furthermore, though he is sick, Michel does not want to accept the loss of agency that comes from having an illness. When his wife tries to pray for his recovery, he orders her not to pray for him because he does not want to owe his life to God. His rejection of religion reveals that he prefers self-reliance to belief in a higher power. By creating a plan for his own cure and carrying it out, he reclaims power over his body and his health.

These first few chapters also reveal the conflict brewing between Michel and his wife Marceline, foreshadowing their later problems. He marries her to please his father, not out of love, and, at first, he views her more as a stereotype than as a human being. His sexist views are challenged when he finally gets to know her: “I had developed certain opinions about how silly women were. That evening, sitting next to her, it was I who seemed the more awkward and stupid” (19). Michel feels protective of Marceline, hiding from her the fact that he has coughed blood because he believes it will upset her. Indeed, she faints at the sight of his blood. This hysterical reaction by a woman is a common trope in 19th-century literature, which often depicts women as more emotional and sensitive than men.

Although Michel learns not to think of Marceline as “silly,” the novel still depicts Marceline as a two-dimensional foil to Michel rather than as a fully realized character. Gide portrays her as a devoted wife who takes care of Michel during his illness, prays for him, and seeks to bring him joy by introducing him to local children so they can play with him. While Marceline seems like an ideal wife, she nevertheless receives Michel’s wrath whenever she does not anticipate his desires and needs. For example, he lashes out against her for not realizing he needs to eat more food. This first outburst foretells later conflicts between the couple when Michel starts to view Marceline as a burden.