Promise at Dawn by Romain Gary (Book Analysis) E-Book

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• Kategorie: Bildung
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• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 26

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Unlock the more straightforward side of Promise at Dawn with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of Promise at Dawn by Romain Gary, an autobiographical tale about the author’s childhood, experience in the Second World War and, most importantly, his mother. The writer’s mother was divorced and had to raise her son by herself. However, she overcame the countless obstacles which stood in her way to give her child the brightest future possible. Promise at Dawn was published in 1960 and, although it contains many autobiographical elements, is not an autobiography in the true sense of the world, but more of a tribute to the person in Gary’s life who inspired him the most. Indeed, Romain Gary idolised his mother, from his childhood in Russia, Poland and France to the day she died, and even beyond the grave. Gary was a diplomat, novelist, film director and aviator, and is the only author to be awarded the Prix Goncourt under two different names. He committed suicide in Paris in 1980.  
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Leseprobe

Romain Gary

French novelist

Born in Lithuania in 1914.Died in Paris in 1980. Notable works:The Roots of Heaven (1956), novelThe Life Before Us (1975), novelThe Kites (1980), novel

Romain Gary (born Romain Kacew, and also known by the pseudonym Émile Ajar) was a Jewish-French novelist who was born in Lithuania in 1914. He came to France when he was 14 years old. After graduating with a degree in law, he fought in the Free French Forces until the end of the Second World War (1939-1945). He then pursued a diplomatic career until 1960. He committed suicide in Paris in 1980.

Romain Gary is the only French writer to have received the Prix Goncourt on two separate occasions: once for his novel The Roots of Heaven, published under the name Gary, and once for The Life Before Us, published under the pseudonym Ajar. Gary is particularly known for this choice to conceal his name.

Promise at Dawn

A son’s debt to his mother

Genre: autobiographical novelReference edition: Gary, R. (1988) Promise at Dawn. Trans. Beach, J. M. Brussels: New Directions.1st edition: 1961 (French edition first published in 1960)Themes: maternal love, war, death, promise, sickness, irony

Promise at Dawn is an autobiographical novel first published in 1960. It tells the story of Gary’s past, not as he actually experienced it but how he views it retrospectively in light of who he has become.

Gary spent his youth trying to live up to his mother Mina’s artistic expectations for him. After his mother’s business went bankrupt, the two left Poland for Nice, where they achieved financial security thanks to the hotel and boarding house that Mina managed. Romain graduated with a degree in law and then joined the Free French Air Forces. He returned to Nice in 1945, high on the success of his novella A European Education and his title of Compagnon de la Libération (“Companion of the Liberation”), to discover that his mother had died: the letters that he had been receiving from her had been written in advance.

Summary

A mother’s devotion

Among the tales and stories which came from Romain’s mother’s imagination is one about three gods, who Romain has to fight. As a child, he knew that his mother wanted him to defy Totoche, the god of Stupidity, Merzavka, the god of Absolute Truth and Total Righteousness, and Filoche, the god of Mediocrity, Prejudice and Hatred. For Mina and her son, they are the symbolic representations of humanity’s worst vices.

A strong, courageous woman, Mina works incredibly hard to provide for her son alone, as she is divorced. The little boy is overwhelmed with love for his mother and wants to do something for her. The future writer believes in a mysterious force which will lead him to shower her with his successes to compensate for her life of sacrifice and self-denial.