They are complete opposites. While Jean is blond, gentle, and even-tempered, Pierre is brooding, impetuous, and resentful. In Le Havre, as long as nothing disturbs the family's equilibrium, the two brothers lead a peaceful life. But when a family friend bequeaths his entire fortune to Jean, and Jean announces his engagement to the neighbor, Pierre's jealousy of his younger brother erupts. He decides to investigate the reasons for this incomprehensible inheritance, even at the risk of sacrificing his own happiness... Famous for both its story and its preface, conceived as a reflection on the novelistic genre, this naturalist text is a masterpiece of Maupassant's work. (Educational resource for 8th grade - Fiction to explore reality.)
