Literature / Simon's Papa

"Simon's Papa" is a short story written by French author Guy de Maupassant. It was originally published in 1879.

Simon, the shy, quiet son of local woman La Blanchotte, falls afoul of the other boys' cruelty because he doesn't have a father. Soon he meets the local blacksmith, Philippe Rémy, who agrees to be his "father".

This story includes examples of the following tropes:

• All of the Other Reindeer: Both Simon and his mother Blanchotte. She is an outcast for having a baby out of wedlock, and he's picked up for being her child.
• Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: When accompanying Simon back home, Philippe fatuously tells himself that a woman who sinned once might well sin again. Actually seeing her (and her reaction on learning her son tried to commit suicide because the children mocked him for being born out of wedlock) drives those thoughts well away.
• Cry into Chest: Simon's mother hugs him as he starts to cry again after confessing his suicide attempt.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: One of the bullies produly claims that he doesn't have a father because he's an orphan.
  A murmur of approval rose among the little wretches as if this fact of possessing a papa dead in a cemetery had caused their comrade to grow big enough to crush the other one who had no papa at all.
• Declaration of Protection: After proposing to his mother, Philippe says to Simon that he should tell his schoolmates that Philippe is his father, and if any of them pick on Simon again, Philippe will box their ears.
• Defiled Forever: Played With. The ladies of the village disdain La Blanchotte for having become pregnant with Simon outside of marriage, which causes the plot because their sons catch their condescension without understanding it. However, near the end of the story, one of the blacksmiths speaking with Philippe (said to speak for them all) comments that La Blanchotte would make a worthy wife if a man were inclined to propose, and claims to know others considered respectable who sinned the same way but got married with their lovers. In any case, it doesn't dissuade Phillip.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Le Blanchotte acts aloof towards Philippe when he first brings Simon home, which the narration attributes to her having been hurt by Simon's biological father. Over time, he walks by a little more, and thinks she seems a little rosier when he's there, though the narrator muddies the waters by noting that Philippe could have been flattering himself. She certainly agrees quickly enough when he turns up to propose to her, though no one ever clarifies whether it's due to love or social benefits (or both).
• Driven to Suicide: Simon goes to the river after the other boys beat him, intending to drown himself like a beggar he remembers seeing. Thankfully, various things interrupt him before he can.
• Interrupted Suicide: Simon goes to the river intending to drown himself, but he gets distracted by various creatures. However, the thought recurs, and he tries to say a prayer beforehand. However, he can't finish for sobbing. Luckily, his grief attracts the attention of the local blacksmith, Philippe Rémy, who takes him home to his mother.
• Kids Are Cruel: The other boys mock Simon about not having a father, ultimately beating him and taunting him to tell his nonexistent father about it. Guy de Maupassant compares it to a group of chickens killing one of their own that has been wounded. They continue mocking him after he "adopts" Philippe as a replacement. However, Philippe proposing to Simon's mother and taking Simon under his protection (specifically, pulling the ears of anyone trying anything) silences the taunting.
• Marry the Nanny: Simon's problems with the other boys and adoption of Philippe as a father figure introduce the blacksmith to his mother, and they end up engaged by the end of the story.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The bullies accidentally create the happy ending of the story by telling Simon that Philippe isn't his father because he isn't married to his mother. When Simon repeats this to Philippe, it ultimately leads to the blacksmith proposing marriage to La Blanchotte, shutting the boys up once and for all.
• "Not So Different" Remark: One of Philippe's friends argues that Blanchotte is a good woman after all, and many other women who also had premarital sex, had the luck of getting married with their lovers and now they are as respectable as the next person - Blanchotte was just the only one who was lied to and abandoned.
• Parental Substitute: The entire premise is a kindly man becomes a father figure for a fatherless child out of pity, until Becoming the Mask.
• Shipper on Deck: When Simon brings up that the kids are still bullying him because he doesn't have a father married to his mother while at the forge, the other blacksmiths are quick to slide in, declaring that she would certainly make a good wife, and her only crime was believeing the cad who'd promised her marriage, and had done a better job of raising her kid, for all that the village tongues wag.
• Sins of Our Fathers: Of our mothers, in this case. Simon is picked up by his schoolmates because he's fatherless and his mother is unmarried.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Philippe and Blanchotte are soon attracted to each other, but Blanchotte keeps him at distance because she doesn't want to be the subject of gossip again, and Philippe respects her and her son too much to invade her boundaries. Fortunately for everyone, he finds the nerve to propose marriage in the end.