Introdcution
The way in which an author wants to provide a moral aspect of the artistic work contemplates a mere extent of this very author in his/her personal feelings and emotional states. In fact, this makes the intentions of artistic people to move their thoughts toward written or screen embodiment. In other words, writers or directors of film seek for better implementation of their own inner implementation of details and underlined peculiarities maintained in the characters. The paper provides such thinking in terms of two works. One of them is the story The Talented Mr. Ripley written by Patricia Highsmith. It is an urge of the author to provide the moral background of human beings and their reasoning of such negative and rather unequivocal notion of murder. On the other hand, the major attention is grabbed on the story by Marcel Pagnol. Jean de Florette and Manon of the Springs. The plots of both works are similar in some details. Nonetheless, the main question about the story touches upon the evaluation of two main characters actions toward Manon and her family. It is necessary to work out whether the evil is represented in the actions of Cesar Soubeyran and his nephew Ugolin. Thereupon, the idea of preciousness of life stands above all in the civilized highly moral society, but the facts of murders can, however, depict the inner world and intentions of people committing them.
Main body
First of all, it is necessary to point out the whole place where the actions take place. Les Bastides is the place in France, its part called Provence, to be precise. Here people are taught to live in harmony with nature and everything it gives. This is why the moral part of the community in Les Bastides is rather high. People do not believe that someone in the village can make an attempt to commit a crime. Such predetermined understanding of reality in the village can be explained with the traditions and principles according to which people live. One of the main rules asserts the rational approach to every citizen of the village, namely: “Stay out of other people’s business” (Pagnol 4).
Looking at the social background of the village one cannot even imagine that the denouement of the story is reckoned with the poor destiny of some inhabitants of it. Jean Cadoret owing to his position of tax collector in the village and owning a farm in it was hated by Soubeyrans. It was so due to their greed and desire to manipulate the situation which appeared in the village. Here the murder of Cadoret makes a resonance in the village: no one even can guess about the implication of somebody to this case. This case is known to be committed by Cesar and his nephew Ugolin. Thus, what were the real motives of their crime?
In fact, it is fair to blame the deed by Soubeyrans. It is highly amoral to seek to kill somebody. This was blamed by the villagers during the flow of actions. The major part of the village knew that this family was not honorable and responsible for their actions. This fact makes more emphasis to support the opinion that the commitment of crime by Soubeyrans was the implementation of evil itself. One of the women, Pamphile, regarding to the case was intended to say: “I always knew that Soubeyrans were bastards, but I never would have guessed just how far they’d go” (Pagnol 381)!
One more objective to think that the crime by Cesar and Ugolin was a representation of intended motives against Cadoret is imposed in their urge to plug the spring, so that to do harm toward the family of Cadoret. Manon, however, knowing the truth about the case by Soubeyrans tries to make rational steps for having more arguments of their guilt in crime. The scoundrelism of the proceeds by Soubeyrans is concerned, however, with the direct fact that was disclosed by Manon. This considered the real condition which made hunchback destroyed. The spring was plugged up. This makes the situation more outrageous and with more facts of César and his nephew’s implication to the case of Cadoret’s death. The main intention was to own the territory where hunchback lived due to its significance for watering carnations and appropriate gains presupposed with such manipulation.
However, the deepest intention of Cesar was also concerned with the family of Cadoret. He loved for a long time mother of the hunchback. Suchlike revenge of him was another reason for his plan of how to destroy the family of Cadoret and the hunchback, in particular. This line of inspection into the real motives of both bad characters highlights their direct participation in plugging of the spring for the purpose of destruction of the hunchback’s life. Hence, three main themes violated the state of peace in Les Bastides, namely: the hunchback and his death; the greed of the Soubeyrans; and the drought being getting worse from day to day (Pagnol 384).
With regards to Highsmith’s book, it is necessary to admit that Tom Ripley differed from Soubeyrans owing to his feasibility to leave place where he committed crimes without any trace of his implication. This is why Ripley was rather sophisticated in his actions. He tried to involve everything he knew and had for the goal of new crimes performed with a mere hand of cruelty and being unnoticed. The main difference of Ripley is that he was not considered as the scoundrel in the society of people with which he communicated: “He looked like a businessman, well-dressed, well-fed” (Highsmith 2). In contrast to Ugolin he was industrious in making no reason for the rest of the society to think that he could be dangerous for people. Furthermore, the survey on his proceeds should be related to the way Ripley communicated with potential victims and how he influenced on them. This feature of him was a preference which he had over more educated and richer people. He constantly programmed self-motivation before doing something. After a talk with Mr. Greenleaf he knew what he wanted and how he should behave for the rest of time before the fatal event: “I think I might. I’d be glad to see Richard again – especially if you think I might be of some help” (Highsmith 9).
Conclusion
To sum up, the situation in Manon of the Springs provides a bad side of peoples’ characters in terms of personal benefits and greed on the whole. Soubeyrans’ proceed is granted as the essential implementation of evil toward villagers. Having destroyed one member of the community they did harm to the whole village. In their manner of committing crime they give up before the talent of Mr. Ripley in The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Works cited
Highsmith, Patricia. The Talented Mr. Ripley. Sunnyvale, CA: Vintage,1992.
Pagnol, Marcel. Jean de Florette and Manon of the Springs. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988.