Balzac

In Eugenie Grandet, I thought there were interesting connections and conflicts drawn between three qualities--- greed, love, and naivety. Monsieur Grandet was driven by pure greed throughout his entire life. His love of gold replaced his love of his family, and the only time he expressed inklings of this emotion with his family was when his daughter had the power to depreciate his wealth.
Eugenie, however, was entirely unconcerned with wealth, and although she sometimes surmised about her father’s wealth, she was not preoccupied by it in any way. She was able to genuinely love her relatives because she did not have any thoughts of gold or power. This is likely because she was too naïve and young to contemplate the world outside of her home, and so she only loved what she knew. Charles, as an outsider, gave Eugenie a glimpse of another lifestyle, and prompted her to examine her own life and her father’s. This opened her mind, and gave her an individualized set of thoughts and ideals on which she acted. When Charles was staying at her home, she wanted to provide every possible nicety for him, and became upset at her father’s unwillingness to be an accommodating host. Grandet retorted, “Do you think because you have just come of age that you are free to set yourself against me?” This is the moment when it was first recognized that Eugenie had her own mind, free from her father’s ideals and free from her own naivety. She pursued her love of Charles, naïve of the fact that he was also inherently prone to her father’s greed.
Charles’s greed had no outlet during his time in Monsieur Grandet’s home because he was in such an unfortunate position. He could do nothing but except any help that was given to him. He had many fine possessions, but was nonetheless the lowliest person in the household after the tragedies that befell him. This made him a perfect object of Eugenie’s compassion. For a while, Charles lost sight of his past and his future when he sold his belongings without a thought, except for the sentimental items that he entrusted to Eugenie’s care. Charles, living only in the moment, was able to truly love Eugenie, but as soon as he left Samur, his wealthy lifestyle returned, and his naivety to his predisposition for greed returned as well. Now, he was naïve to love, and financial practicality became its replacement.
Eugenie could have become a miser when she realized her wealth, but she instead held on to her attachment to everything she loved. She is the most genuine character in this story, and constantly pushes the limits of what is reasonably expected of her with regard to her love of family. The book ends without Eugenie or Charles being satisfied, and with the conflicts between love, greed, and naivety left unresolved.