— Patricia Alvarado
The Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, I would regard as a Great Work. A great work is reading that is versatile and relatable to the general public. The Confessions are intriguing in the sense that it is an autobiography and written in a way that at first glance, that is was a story. Yet after a couple sentences I realized that it was an autobiography and became more intriguing paragraph after paragraph. In the beginning of the excerpt , Rousseau explains his upbringing and reading how tragic and lonely it was, yet I was surprised due to the way he wrote about his feelings while in the situation. For an example , how his father deserted him and how his older brother left home on his own when he was a child and he was sent to live with his relatives. Rousseau goes on to explain that he was neither angry at his father or his brother for leaving him , because he enjoyed living with his relatives. Yet he makes his childhood sound so idyllic yet everyone at one point or another left him on his own. Through Rousseau explaining the ups and downs of his upbringing such as having a close bond with his cousin , to lying about the ribbon in Comtesse de Vercellis home, he has imperfections like every other person, But I believe Rousseau was optimistic and forward thinking for his time and how describes his life. When he wrote his book and it was publish it was banned all together due to the material being inappropriate for the time that he displayed it , but without it we would not understand Rousseau’s view of his own life and how autobiographies don’t have to always be uplifting or triumphant it can just be an imagination and fabricated into the story you want to be told about your life.
