Which are the characters of the High Old Man as the question Thanks!

Balzac writes about 20 or so people in The Grumpy Old Man. Among them are aristocrats, financiers, retired businessmen, apartment owner's wife, university students, absconding hard laborers, young girls abandoned by their fathers, widows, old ladies, small civil servants, servants and so on. They represent the upper and lower classes of Parisian society. There are four main characters in the novel: La Staigne, Gauleiter, Voltron, and Madame de Beauchene. Their experiences form the main plot of the novel. Balzac's novel is named after "Old Man", but it is not centered on this character. In the process of writing, Rastigne is the main character throughout the novel. Rastigne appears frequently in The Human Comedy as a young ambitious man. His first appearance is in The Grumpy Old Man. Rastigne is a developing character in The Elderly, and Balzac describes the whole process of his ambition in The Elderly, which is where the greatest value of the book lies. Rastigne was originally a poor boy from a French province, and his family saved all expenses to send him to Paris to attend university, hoping to revitalize the family business in the future. This was a common practice in Restoration France. At the beginning of the novel, he was 21 years old, an enthusiastic and talented young man, smart and handsome, with the idea of making a fortune and moving up in the world, studying law in Paris. He had hoped to work his way up the legal ladder after graduation. But in Paris less than a year, the poverty of his family and the prosperity of Parisian society has made his desire to climb up the ladder increased tenfold. He realizes that in Paris, women have a great influence on social life and tries to conquer a few women who can be his backstage. He knew from his aunt and grandmother of a distant cousin, Madame de Baucheon. He went to her for advice on how to move up the social ladder. At that time, Mrs. Bowdoin was just a love affair, full of resentment, she said to Rustigne: "This society is nothing but a group of fools and liars, to deal with this society with an eye for an eye. The more heartless you are the faster you rise. When you strike at people unmercifully, they are afraid of you and can only use men and women as stagecoaches. Ride them to exhaustion and throw them off at the station. That way, you reach the highest peaks of desire." She told Rastigne to hide his true thoughts, to be good at faking, and to find a front in Paris with a distinguished wife. At the time, she believed that it was money that dominated status, and told Rastigne to seduce the wealthy Mrs. Nucingen as a springboard for his ascent. She said, "Love her if you can, or use her if you can't." Madame de Baucheon also brings him into society. In this way, Madame de Beaucheon gives Rastigne his first lesson in extreme egoism and becomes his first leader on his way up the ladder. When Rastigne returns to his apartment from Madame de Beaucaillon's luxurious mansion, the stark contrast of his surroundings fuels his desires. He needs money if he is to fool around in high society. So, with a clear conscience, he writes home and asks his mother and sister to come up with 1,200 francs to give him. But at this time Rastigne had not completely given up the idea of relying on learning to fight for the future, did not completely lose conscience. After writing home, his heart was also very difficult. When he realized that Gao Lao sacrificed everything for his daughter, he thought that Gao Lao was really great. He sympathized with Gao Lao and came forward to be his protector until he finally took care of Gao Lao's funeral. His second leader is Voltron. Vu Tuoleng was an absconding prisoner. He had rich social experience and was familiar with the inner workings of the ruling class. With his sharp eyes, he saw at once that Rastigne was desperate to climb up the ladder. He wanted to bring Rustigne into the fold. He said to him: "This society has money is virtue, all covered with sludge and sitting in the car is a gentleman, covered with sludge and walking on two legs, are small rogues, pickpocketing a piece of anything, you get to the court square exhibition. People take you as a trick. Steal a million, and you are said to be a great sage in the social scene." He told Rustigne, "To climb up the ladder, you are bound to swallow me and I will swallow you, like so many spiders in a bottle." He said, "Do you know how the Parisians fight their way up? Either by the glow of money or by corrupted instincts. In this heap of men, eloquence is rare, and what prevails everywhere is corruption and degradation." He also said to Rastigne: "To get big money you have to do it boldly, that's how life is, as fishy as the kitchen. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty if you want to rake in the grease. Just wash them afterwards. What is called morality today is just that." He directs Rastigne to seduce Mademoiselle Théophane. Mademoiselle Théophane's father was a big banker. During the Revolutionary era, he murdered people for their money. Balzac wrote about his fortune in the short story "The Red Hotel". He threw his daughter out of the house in order to save his property and pass it all on to his son. Voltron suggests that the two of them work together, with Rastigne wooing Mademoiselle Tha?pan and him trying to get her brother killed. In this way, Miss Thaiphan would have a million dollars of the family fortune to accompany her. Voltron asks for 200,000 francs afterwards. Although Rastigny did not dare to accept this proposal, but Voltron's words have been y imprinted in his heart. When he saw Mademoiselle Théophane later, a voice echoed in his ears: "800,000, 800,000 ......" Both of these guides analyzed to Rastigny the true nature of social scruples. The power of money beckons him to follow the path of extreme egoism, of tit for tat, of immorality for immorality, of unscrupulousness. Their words are different in form, but the substance is the same. Rastigne once said, "What Madame de Baucheon said to me civilly and elegantly, Voltair coldly and nakedly." As Rastigny was going to climb up the ladder in spite of everything, he was bound to do what they said. He first goes after Mrs. Neuchingen, and finds that she has no financial power (her dowry is controlled by her husband). Finding that his plan has fallen through, and seeing that he has no money and no future, he remembers Voltron's plan again, and turns to Miss Teyfan. But just then, Voltron is arrested. Rastigny had to go after Mrs. Neuchingen because he did not want to risk breaking the law. His ambitious character is completed after the three tragic acts of Voltron's arrest, Madame de Baucheon's abandonment, and the death of Gauleiter. The reason why this paper is named "Golaud" is determined by the profound significance of Golaud's tragedy in the text. Gao Lao's tragedy is the most important lesson of Rastigne's social education, far more profound than the two lessons given to him by his cousin Mrs. Bowdoin and the fugitive prisoner Voltron, the most powerful whip on the way to the formation of Rastigne's ambitious character. 2. Madame de Beauchene She was a typical example of the aristocratic women of the Restoration period. She was of noble birth, the last daughter of the royal family of Pougogne, and the queen of Parisian society. Her parlor was the most meaningful place in aristocratic society, who could show up in her parlor, "is the same as having a letter of credentials of the aristocratic family", in the upper class passes unimpeded. The bourgeois women of Paris could only dream of entering it. But in reality, although she was outwardly prominent for a while, inwardly she had a feeling of decline. She realizes that money is the real master of society, and that profit is the moral principle. But she herself, with her aristocratic traditions and arrogance, denigrates bourgeois women. It can be said that she is a person who is aware of the times but refuses to go with the flow. She was in love for three years with the Spanish Marquis of Aquta, and her love was genuine. But her lover deserted her in order to marry a bourgeois aristocratic lady with a dowry of four million dollars. She therefore bids farewell to Parisian society. She held a grand ball on her way out, and Balzac depicted the scene of this farewell ball with infinite sympathy and tenderness. The novel writes: "The Baucheon mansion was surrounded by more than 500 cars with their lights shining brightly, and countless people from the upper class came to see her off, as if the Roman youths in ancient times applauded a smiling dead beast. In the gilded hall, the orchestra played music, but she was desolate inside. In the eyes of others, she was dressed in white and peaceful and quiet; behind her back she burned love letters with tears in her eyes and made preparations for her departure." Balzac used the technique of setting off and contrasting to greatly exaggerate the tragic atmosphere of her exit from the stage of history, singing an endless elegy. Later Madame de Baussaillon is abandoned again in The Outcast. Her tragedy graphically illustrates the decline of the aristocracy and the ascendancy of the bourgeoisie during the Restoration. Nobility is no match for money, love is no match for money. His real name is Jorg 6.1 Golen, nicknamed "Ghost", and he is an important bourgeois ambitious figure in The Human Drama. In Gao Lao Tou, he is an absconding hard laborer, the confidant and counselor of a high-level money-stealing syndicate, who deals in large quantities of stolen goods, and is the image of a vicious predator who has not yet gained power. Voltron is very capable and has a team of henchmen under his command. He was widely read and familiar with the upper classes and saw through the political, economic and legal truths of the society of his time. He hit the nail on the head when he told Rastigne, "The difference between robbers and rulers lies only in the sight of blood and the absence of blood." The big bourgeoisie are nothing but robbers protected by the law, in a society where wealth is virtue. If he has four million francs, he is Mr. Four Million, a citizen of the United States, and no one will question him about his past. He wants to grow, to fight evil with evil, immorality with immorality, to go in like a cannonball and like a plague, to kill, to seduce young people, to seize wealth by any means necessary. He is familiar with the code, and will exploit the loopholes of the law, never being condemned to death when he falls. He was very much a man of the world and never betrayed anyone. He said to Ra, "Call him a villain, a bad man, a scoundrel, a robber, whatever you like, just don't call me a liar or a spy." Even the secret agent who caught him said he was a good man. His aim was to get another 200,000 francs and then go to America to buy 200 negroes and set up a big plantation. There is a great deal of adventure in this image. Voltron rebelled against society because he was ostracized by society and could not succeed in his ambition. He studies the society and exposes the society in order to climb up the social ladder, and once his ambition to climb up the social ladder succeeds, he will become a hawk and dog that defends the existing system. This image appears in many works. In The Elderly, he is arrested in 1819, and later he escapes again, traveling to Spain and then back to France in disguise. In "Disillusionment", he appeared as a Spanish priest, and in "The Flower of Fortune", he became the head of the secret police department in Paris, and in "Auntie Bessie", he became the director of public security and climbed up to the ruling class. It is said that Balzac wrote this figure using the experiences of a head of the secret police in Paris as a prototype. This figure of Voltron is a complex one; he is an expositor of capitalist society and a producer of evil. Balzac's attitude towards him is also ambivalent, writing him as a representative of social evils and criticizing him, but also appreciating his spontaneity, intention and ability to express his own criticism of society through his cynicism. The scene of Voltron's arrest in the novel is so heroic that the painter who was there said, "It would be quite beautiful to paint him!" The people in Voltron's apartment sympathize with him and are furious with Miss Micheneau, who betrayed him, and everyone shouts at her, "Get out, traitor!" All objected to living in an apartment with her. Like such a shrewd and tough robber, but also defeated under the hands of money! 4. The High Old Man In a letter to Madame Hansgar, dated October 18, 1834, Balzac mentions that he wrote The High Old Man. He said, "I am going to depict in this book a feeling of immense and immense power, and the hero of the work is a father." Old Man Gao is the quintessential example of fatherly love. Earlier a noodle merchant, he engaged in grain speculation during the Revolution and became a tycoon and a giant in the business world. He had a family fortune of two million dollars and went on to become mayor of the Paris district during the Empire. He was very shrewd in business and knew how to take advantage of the moment, and the novel writes that he "had the talent of a minister of state" in business. But he could not adapt to the trend in family relationship. After his wife died, many people wanted to marry their daughters to him, but he refused. He poured out his love on his two daughters, and his affection for them grew to absurd proportions. He fulfilled their most extravagant wishes. They lived as luxuriously as a duke's mistress, and had their own carriage at the age of fifteen. When they grew up, the Gauleiter gave each of them a dowry of 800,000 francs so that they could climb into good relationships. The eldest daughter Alasdache keen door brother, married a nobleman, became the Countess of Resto; the second daughter likes money, married a banker, became Mrs. Neuchingen. The first foolish thing the old man did was to divide his property between his two daughters. At first, because he still has money, daughter and son-in-law often invited her to guests, there is always a share of his knife and fork on the table, everyone looks at him respectfully, just like respectfully look at the money. Not long after, the political situation changed, the Bourbon dynasty restored, the aristocrats regained power, the concept of the door brother raised again. Even bankers like Neuchangen also crowded into the royalist party, high old man such as noodle merchants of course, was considered by the upper class is dishonorable, is a piece of greaseproof paper in the living room of the stain, became an unwelcome person, the daughter asked her father to stop the business. Elder Gao fulfilled his daughter's request and dished out the store. In doing so, he did the second stupid thing and cut off his financial resources. in 1813, he took up residence in the Vogel apartment. In 1813, he took up residence in the apartment of the Voges, where he had an income of 8,000 to 10,000 francs a year, but he could only see his daughters by going in the back door or by standing by the side of the road and waiting for their carriages to pass by. The two daughters continued to live a life of dissipation and corruption, and only visited their father when they needed money. In order to satisfy his daughters' desires, the old man moved from the best room on the second floor to the third, fourth, and fifth floors, and his board and lodging was reduced from 1,200 francs a year to 45 francs a month. He sold everything he could, and his personality changed from Mr. Gorion to "old man", "old bastard", "old panda", and became the object of everyone's delight. However, his two daughters still pressed him for money, forcing him to suffer a cerebral hemorrhage. During his critical illness, he looks forward to seeing his two daughters, but they are busy attending Madame de Baussaillon's party, "even if they have to step over their father's body to get there". The old man finally realizes that he has been abandoned by his daughters and says with immense sadness, "I gave them my whole life, and today they won't give me even an hour." He also recognizes that the kind of life his daughters have led "was caused by me, I spoiled them." Before he died, he cried out in grief, "Money buys everything, and it buys daughters." He died miserably, and his daughter and son-in-law did not come to take care of the funeral, but only sent two empty carriages painted with the insignia of knighthood on the day of the funeral