Comparison Between 'Jeannot And Colin'

Many people consider that money is a very important in order to accomplish happiness, but a majority of the time money and happiness have nothing to do with each other. In “Jeannot and Colin” by Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire the reader is presented with the story of a family who acquires a great richness and then ends up losing everything. With this story the reader is presented with many of the lessons of why money and happiness do not work well with each other. The reader is also presented with many other lessons such as the importance of gaining knowledge, and who the people are who will truly support you.
One very important lesson that the story presents is that it is very important to acquire as much knowledge as possible. The reader sees this after the rich family losses everything that they had and the son Jeannot does not know how to take not only care of himself, but also of his mother. Since Jeannot didn’t learn any sciences, math, and to work he has no idea how to do anything, so when his family loses everything there is nothing that he can dedicate himself to. It is here that Jeannot sees that having learned to read, write, and to simply
work was very important. It is interesting that the author would include this lesson in this article of “Jeannot and Colin” since this was during the time of the Enlightenment. This story of “Jeannot and Colin” must have been to inform people and get them to think about the importance of gaining knowledge and how everything that there is to learn is useful in one way or another.
Another lesson that is presented in “Jeannot and Colin” is about who end up being the people who truly support a person in life.
During times of fame and money people see and receive support from many people, even those who they thought didn’t like them much. But then as soon as things get difficult people turn away as if they did not know the person. In “Jeannot and Colin” when Jeannot’s family loses all of their money and Jeannot looks for help with the people who supported them while they were rich he sees that they truly were never there to help him. He sees that they just showed their support because of the money that his family had. Jeannot ends up finding support with his old friend Colin who was never interested in the money that Jeannot had and who ends up helping Jeannot and his mother live a happy
life.
This story of “Jeannot and Colin” is very interesting as it not only reflects the time that it was written in but is also very relevant to the things we are living today. Many people see support from others when they are going through good times, but as soon as something goes wrong those same people who showed their support turn against them. After reading this story and while writing this paper I couldn’t help but think about the situation that Puerto Rico, Mexico, Texas, and other places affected by natural disasters have faced. In one hand people have shown great support and help to those affected and have come together just like Jeannot and Colin did. But on the other hand we have seen other people who haven’t shown much support and have turned their backs on these areas affected by natural disasters. In the end we see that many things might not change when it comes to money and people, and that knowledge is very important no matter where one stands economically.