“Familles, je vous hais”: Aesthetics of Hatred and Silence within the Family in François Mauriac’s Fictional
“Familles, je vous hais”: Aesthetics of Hatred and Silence within the Family in François Mauriac’s Fictional

Summary/Abstract: This article analyses the recurrent and overarching themes of hatred and silence in François Mauriac’s fiction. It has been argued that the author’s gloomy depiction of the family was directly related to his own upbringing. His literature can be read as an attempt to heal a psychic wound caused by his family background. Mauriac infused his personal anguish into his fictions, but the question is whether his retributive stance towards his family lead to some form of catharsis. This analysis does not mean to suggest that Mauriac was a misanthropist (or a misogynist for that matter, as the majority of his literary characters are females) or that he found pleasure in his characters’ suffering. The article contends that the author got “emotional closure” by creating characters, who, just like him, suffered and almost suffocated at the hands of their own relatives. Mauriac achieved catharsis by creating – and identifying with – fictional people going through painful experiences similar to his own. Thus, he successfully faced his troubled past and he went through the process of healing his bettered and fragmented sense of self.

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