Social Criticism
Viper in the Fist, however short, is a vitriolic indictment of early 20th century French rural bourgeois society. Bazin depicts a family where hypocrisy is rampant and where observance of Catholic rituals is far more important than virtues like love or compassion. While most portraits of common people seem good-hearted, depictions of the bourgeoisie and the ecclesiastical world are generally despicable. The various priests that appear as educators collaborate with the narrator's mother's cruel follies; some have other weaknesses, such as fornication with young women.
The universe that Bazin depicts — rural bourgeois rentiers — is slowly dying, but the characters do not seem to recognize this. They consider themselves the salt of the earth, who replaced the former nobility, who failed in keeping France on its good way. Like the nobility, they despise commerce, yet live mostly ruined. They support the monarchist Action Française — or ceased to support it because the Pope requested it, not because they themselves judged that it was repugnant. Bazin's own hatred for this social milieu is obvious.
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