The Red and the Black - Part 1 - The truth, the harsh truth

Aug 25, 2026

The Red and the Black opens with a sharp, psychologically observant depiction of Verrières, a small French town shaped by industry, local power, and social perception. Through vivid descriptions of noisy nail production and the mayor’s imposing presence, it contrasts “comfort” and prosperity with an underlying moral and financial atmosphere. The narrative frames M. de Renal as both civic authority and a symbol of calculated respectability, setting the stage for the novel’s themes of truth and ambition.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages508

Reading Time13 h 2 min

AccessFree to download

Part 1

A Small Town

The Red and the Black Stendhal (Translator: C K Scott Moncrieff) Published: 1830 Categorie(s): Fiction, Romance Source: [http://gutenberg.net.au](http://gutenberg.net.au) About Stendhal: Marie-Henri Beyle (January 23, 1783 – March 23, 1842) , better known by his penname Stendhal, was a 19th century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of the realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1830) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma, 1839) . Source: Wikipedia Also available on Feedbooks Stendhal: The Charterhouse ofParma (1839) Vanina Vanini (1839) Armance (1928) The Duchess ofPalliano (1839) The Abbess ofCastro (1839) Vittoria Accoramboni (1839) The Cenci (1839) Note: This book is brought to you by Feedbooks [http://www.feedbooks.com](http://www.feedbooks.com) Strictly for personal use, do not use this file for commercial purposes. Part 1 The truth, the harsh truth DANTON Cha ter 1 p A Small Town Put thousands together Less bad, But the cage less gay. HOBBES The small town of Verrieres may be regarded as one of the most attractive in the Franche-Comte. Its white houses with their high pitched roofs of red tiles are spread over the slope of a hill, the slightest contours of which are indicated by clumps of sturdy chestnuts. The Doubs runs some hundreds of feet below its fortifications, built in times past by the Spaniards, and now in ruins. Verrieres is sheltered on the north by a high mountain, a spur of the Jura. The jagged peaks of the Verra put on a mantle of snow in the first cold days of October. A torrent which comes tearing down from the mountain passes through Verrieres before emptying its waters into the Doubs, and supplies power to a great number of sawmills; this is an extremely simple industry, and procures a certain degree of comfort for the majority of the inhabitants, who are of the peasant rather than of the burgess class. It is not, however, the sawmills that have made this little town rich. It is to the manufacture of printed calicoes, known as Mulhouse stuffs, that it owes the general prosperity which, since the fall of Napoleon, has led to the refacing of almost all the houses in Verrieres. No sooner has one entered the town than one is startled by the din of a noisy machine of terrifying aspect. A score of weighty hammers, falling with a clang which makes the pavement tremble, are raised aloft by a wheel which the water of the torrent sets in motion. Each of these hammers turns out, daily, I cannot say how many thousands of nails. Abevy of fresh, pretty girls subject to the blows of these enormous hammers, the little scraps of iron which are rapidly transformed into nails. This work, so rough to the outward eye, is one of the industries that most astonish the traveller who ventures for the first time among the mountains that divide France from Switzerland. If, on entering Verrieres, the traveller inquires to whom belongs that fine nail factory which deafens everybody who passes up the main street, he will be told in a drawling accent: 'Eh! It belongs to the Mayor.' Provided the traveller halts for a few moments in this main street of Verrieres, which runs from the bank of the Doubs nearly to the summit of the hill, it is a hundred to one that he will see a tall man appear, with a busy, important air. At the sight of him every hat is quickly raised. His hair is turning grey, and he is dressed in grey. He is a Companion of several Orders, has a high forehead, an aquiline nose, and on the whole his face is not wanting in a certain regularity: indeed, the first impression formed of it may be that it combines with the dignity of a village mayor that sort of charm which may still be found in a man of forty-eight or fifty. But soon the visitor from Paris is annoyed by a certain air of self-satisfaction and se

FAQs

What kind of place is Verrières in the novel’s opening?

Verrières is presented as an attractive small town in the Franche-Comté, defined by its landscape and by local industry powered by a mountain torrent.

How does the nail factory shape daily life in Verrières?

The town’s prosperity and noise revolve around the nail-making process, where large hammers turn iron scraps into nails, deafening travelers on the main street.

Who is the mayor of Verrières introduced in Part 1?

The mayor is M. de Renal, described with formal dignity, orders, and an air of self-satisfaction that hints at limitations and careful financial strategy.

What do the mayor’s gardens and house signify?

The impressive freestone house and honeycombed garden terraces represent the wealth M. de Renal has gained through his nail factory and iron-related business, reinforcing his social standing.

Aug 25, 2026

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