A+Peasant+9

Name: Jean-Pierre Dupont

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Occupation: Peasant

Social Class: Third Estate

Financial situation: Very poor, has been in debt for several months and is struggling to support himself and his friend, Henri.

Appearance: Wears very old, tattered clothes that are too small for him. Has no shoes; usually walks around barefoot. Has long, messy, blonde hair.

Location of home and/or business: Ile de la Cité, near Notre Dame Cathedral

Habitual locations: Lives with his friend in a tiny, run-down apartment; is in danger of being kicked out because of debts

Daily routine: Leaves outside the city to work the crops early in the morning with his friend. After working all day with only breaks for meals, receives his pay and comes home. Their pay is used to pay the rent; part of it is saved up to pay back the debts they have.

Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits: Usually cheerful, is sometimes sarcastic. Not one to easily hold a grudge, but regards it seriously if one actually happens.

Past/Family History: Was abandoned by his parents as a baby and raised by his friend’s parents

Family: None known, regards friend and his parents as closest thing to family

Social relations with your own and other classes: Is quite friendly with Angelique Mullenax, a nun at Notre Dame; often drops by to pay her a visit and occasionally receive a morsel of bread.

Religion: Roman Catholic

Education: None

Style of speaking: Usually quite frank with his statements but has a crude way of shaping his words. Does not speak much slang.

Main privileges and/or conflicts: Always requires money; because he is constantly in debt, he always has to work hard. Receives little pay for his efforts, however, and much of what he earns is lost on the rent and taxes.

Portrait:

Diary Entries

 * Entry #3: December 17, 1804**

Napoleon Bonaparte became the emperor of France about two weeks ago. I always had a feeling that he would take control of power like this, even though he already was first consul. I don't see much difference either way though. He has supreme power of the government; that is what matters, is it not?

I have joined the army that Napoleon has created for the conquering of Europe. Having France be the master of Europe seems a grand idea to me. It doesn't seem to appeal to Henri as much, but he is also eager to fight for France. Of course, we both said our farewells to Sister Mullenax before we left. She was kind, as always, and gave us some bread and cheese before we left. I must find a way to thank her if I come back alive later on. The pay for being in the army is much better than what we used to have, and we also get three square meals a day. Both of us are overjoyed at such a turn of events, although I do have a feeling of apprehension about the battles to come.

The soldier who I share my tent with is a former guard of the royal family. I wonder how he survived all these years? He seems a kind enough fellow, but he has the face of one who has seen better days. I feel for him; I also know what it feels like to lose everything. He gets along with me and Henri well; the three of us have made a group of sorts. We eat together spend our free time together, and talk with each other. Three people is a fairly small group, though. Perhaps we will invite some more people.



Henderson, Robert. //Loading and Firing a French Musket in the Age of Napoleon 1791-1815.// Digital image. //Militaryheritage.com//. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. .
 * Bibliography:**


 * Entry #2: July 17, 1789**

The Revolution has begun!

It has scarcely been three days since the storming of the Bastille. The entire city is in chaos; trenches and barricades are being constructed on every street and everyone is arming themselves with something, be it a pike, gun, or knife. People are afraid that there will be a counterattack from the monarchy soon, so everyone is getting prepared. Even Henri and I have been given makeshift pikes to use; the quiet street where we live is now in a frenzy from all the activity. I barely slept at all last night because of the ruckus that lasted up until dawn.

Henri and I have managed to pay our apartment rent, but like always, we are short on food. I went to the butcher yesterday to see if he could spare us some leftover meat. Thankfully, he was kind enough to give me a few morsels; it's not much, but it will get us by for the next few days.

I happened to be walking home from Notre Dame yesterday when I ran into a fellow who said he was an editor for one of Paris' newspapers. He was covering a story about the storming of the Bastille and wanted to interview me on what I thought about the whole event. However, he kept on going off the main topic and discussing with me the advantages of changing the governmental system to a constitutional monarchy. A queer fellow if I ever saw one. Perhaps I will be seeing him more in the upcoming days.



Houël, Jean-Pierre. //Prise De La Bastille//. Digital image. //Dorian Cope Presents On This Deity//. Web. 7 Dec. 2011. .
 * Bibliography:**

"Storming of the Bastille." //Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. .


 * Entry #1: April 6, 1789**

Life has been very hard for the past week or so. Henri and I have been working our arms off in order to earn money for our apartment's rent. Our landlord is very angry with us for not being able to pay last month's rent, so hopefully the money we earn from planting wheat crops will be able to pay for both last month's and this month's rent. But we still have the problem of food even if we can pay the rent; it's all Henri and I can do to keep ourselves from stuffing bunches of wheat into our trousers to try to make flour at home and bake our own bread. Both of us are slowly wasting away. Luckily, Sister Mullenax at the Notre Dame is kind enough to give us some bread and cheese every week if we go visit her. I must find a way to repay her kindness, but how?

The rare times when I go to the market to buy food, I always hear talk about the high taxes we have to pay. It seems that everybody has something to say about them, such as how high they are and how they are useless for actually helping the country. I am not without complaints; if half of our pay was not used to pay taxes, I believe Henri and I could live in relative comfort in our little apartment. But alas, it seems like that is not to be. I worry about other things, though. Some are even speaking violently about what the people should do to to monarchy. Will this lead to a revolt? That is a question that may only be answered in the months to come.



//Farmer Planting a Field - Clipart//. Digital image. //Surfdoggie.com//. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. .
 * Bibliography:**