A Study In What Shaped The Political — страница 2
writings laid out much if not all of his beliefs then spent the next forty years of his life trying to explain, clarify, or expand upon these. He seceded in this to a point, but in doing so alienated all of his old friends lived such a poor life that it caused harm to his physical (and in my opinion spiritual) health and in the end caused him to take his own life. It is not known for a fact that he did take his own life. I hold that as my own personal opinion. It is known that his death is unclear on many details and fairly sudden.Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva Switzerland on the 28 of June in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and twelve. He was the second son of Isaac Rousseau and Suzanne Bernard. It would seem from the account in J.J. Rousseau’s Confessions (1782) that his mother and father where destined to be married. The two of them loved each other from the moment they meet as children and due to the poor status of Isaac’s family Suzanne’s family was not going to allow the marriage. If fate had not stepped in, in the form of Gabriel Bernard (Suzanne’s brother) and his love for one of Isaac’s sisters, the two would never have been married. As it was they were married and shortly there after Jean’s older brother was born. Isaac was a wanderer like his second son after him and left for a period of time to work in Constantinople. Ten months after his return Jean-Jacques was born. Jean was sickly and the stress of his birth killed his mother. The fact that his father blamed Jean for the death of his wife must have had a profound effect on him. The only education that Jean’s father saw fit to give to him was that of teaching him to read. He did this by taking turns at the dinner table reading romances that his dead wife had left behind. From these romances Jean learned not only to read and comprehend, but “knowledge of the passions peculiar at my age(Winwar,1961).” Being exposed to the affairs of adults before he was even a teen-ager would have pushed anyone into a pseudo-maturity. Having some knowledge of what the adults did behind closed doors without the benefit of a realistic view of mature love or even knowing why they where doing these things only served to further confuse Jean. This must have shaped Jean in a negative manor and most modern psychologist would agree that, his father made a drastic error in letting him read these book. Jean himself said (1782) that these books “confused emotions, which I found coming one on the other.” In the Confessions Jean is quick to say that his father loved him and always showed him love even if always reminding him that it was him that killed his mother. Broome (1963) however notes that Isaac Rousseau had a violent temper and may have physically abused young Jean. It is known as fact that, Isaac was in trouble with the Geneva authorities at least twice in his life. The second of these times lead to his leaving Geneva in a hurry. Jean was ten at the time of his fathers sudden departure from Geneva. His father never returned to Geneva and Jean was entrusted to one of his uncles. Jean’s Uncle in order to see that his nephew received some form of a education sent him to live with his cousin in the household of Reveran M. Lambercier. Rev. Lambercier was the pastor of the local protestant congregation in the village of Bossey. Here for two years Jean received a formal education of a sort. Upon finishing his basic education Jean returned to Geneva and was apprenticed to become an attorney. This apprenticeship lasted for all of four months. When it was then determined that Jean would not make a good attorney. With the apprenticeship to the attorney not working out his uncle had him apprenticed to an engraver, M. Ducommun. This was a massive blow to young Jean’s self-confidence. An engraver was a step down in the social standings and lower than the trade of his father. It was while he was apprenticed to the engraver that Jean took up many of the vices that would later affect his life and even his health. Jean was thirteen at the time of the apprenticeship. He remained and worked for M. Ducommun for five years learning all the time . The things he learned, like gambling, drinking, stealing, and he was even accused by his master one time of trying to counterfeit. All of these things brought with them the discipline of Jeans master, or more properly regular beatings for Jean. On the third of March in the year 1728 a major emotional turning point in his life occurred, Jean found himself locked outside the gates one evening and decided that to run away. To become a free man able to do as he wished. This was by far better than the beating he would receive if he waited
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