FLAUBERT’S CONTEMPT.

FLAUBERT’S CONTEMPT. Flaubert has the same kind of contempt for the characters in MADAME BOVARY that Salinger has in THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, without the protective screen that the first person narration by Holden Caulfield provides. That is, it is possible to take Salinger’s rejection of most people as really that of the troubled young narrator. But Flaubert hated the bourgeoisie and that hatred is reflected in his hatred of his characters. Of course, Flaubert, the author, had an unfair advantage over his characters. First you throw the fish in the barrel, and then you shoot them. Flaubert claimed that Madame Bovary was himself, but I don’t believe it.