A character analysis of the priest (Abbe Marignan) in the short Story Essay

A character analysis of the priest (Abbe Marignan) in the short Story Clair De Lune - Essay Example The protagonist Abbe Marignan, is essentially a composure of most of the elements used to create the story. Depicted as a priest, Marignan signifies both extremes on love and hence espouses the various elements used inside the story itself. The very first line of the story perhaps best signifies the first aspect of Abbe Marignan’s personality where Maupassant exclaims Marignan as a â€Å"soldier of God†. The contention here is to depict Marignan as a righteous yet fanatical individual since a soldier is by design fanatically tied to the doctrines of a higher order. Maupassant clarifies this view through his second line where he delineates the priest’s existence as: The use of the word â€Å"fanatical† signifies that Marignan was a zealous individual in the higher order service of God. In being a servant of God, Marignan has been depicted as being righteous an uncompromising – just as any fanatic is. In his fanaticism Marignan has been depicted as a learned man who does his best to discover the Lord’s purpose for every other thing. Maupassant exclaims: In itself, this small question reveals a lot about Marignan’s basic nature which is inquisitive. However, as the story later reveals, Marignan is inquisitive as well as nosy since he goes ahead and interferes with something that does not concern him. This characteristic may be attributed to everyone who believes that he is in line with God and is in some degree God’s representative on earth. Since religious figures such as priests are entrusted with religion on a professional scale, so it might be expected that they would interfere in other people’s lives to determine their righteousness (Heap). Furthermore, Marignan has been shown as a person who inquires into things and finds divine explanations for them. Maupassant expresses this as: Being part of divinity, Marignan feels that he knows