The Rules of the Game (Simenon novel)
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La Boule noire (1955) is a 'roman dur' by Georges Simenon. It is the story of Walter Higgins, supermarket owner who desperately tries to become part of the country club in his local town.
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Plot
Walter Higgins' existence is no different from that of his neighbors. In his elegant neighborhood of Maple Street, everything is standardized: from the house to the lawn mower, not to mention the car, all bought on installment.
One satisfaction, however, is lacking to Higgins' happiness: his admission to the Country Club, whose members, notables of the city, seem to strive to deny him entry. This year again, a black ball has entered the vote. This black ball becomes Higgins' curse. Despite his honorable position, he imagines himself despised by everyone, even his wife and his eldest daughter, who nevertheless love and respect him.
During a school group meeting where he sits as a member of the committee, he opposes a project defended by the clan to which he dreams of belonging; at the end of what he takes for a revolt, he resigns as treasurer. His attitude earns him the admiration of his daughter, but causes his wife to worry: did he think of his family? Didn't he risk his situation?
The city seems to forget its scandal, but other troubles arise anyway: his mother, Louisa, a kleptomaniac and drunkard, flees from the institute where her son has placed her. Higgins immediately leaves to look for her and learns that she was mown down by a bus in Oldbridge, the town where he was born. By deciding to die in front of the 'cité' where he spent his childhood, did she not want to play a last malicious trick on him? Although shocked by this drama lived in the memory of his shabby childhood, Higgins realizes that he has taken a new step and finds that his fellow citizens have not remained indifferent to his ordeal. From now on, he will conform his life as a man to what society expects of him. Perhaps thus he will deserve that one day he will be asked to enter the Country Club ...
Particular aspects of the novel
From the hero's reflections that punctuate the story, the latter brings up the inevitable submission to the rules of the social game.
Writing
Simenon finished this novel in La Gatounière, Mougins (Alpes-Maritimes), on April 28 1955.
Data sheet of the book
Space-time frame
Space
Williamson, Town of Connecticut. Oldbridge, hometown of the hero.
Time
Contemporary period.
The characters
Main character
Walter J. Higgins, American. Manager of a supermarket. Married, two girls and two boys. 45 years old.
Other characters
- Nora, wife of Walter, 45, pregnant with a fifth child.
- Florence, his eldest daughter, a bank employee, 18 years old.
- Louisa, his mother, of German origin.
Adaptation
- La Boule noire (2015), téléfilm réalisé par Denis Malleval, avec Bernard Campan et Virginie Lemoine
See also
