Singur pe lume

by Hector Malot
Cretu Raul
Clasa a XI-a A
Prof.cord.:Buna Alina
 Summary
For eight years, Remi has been living at the good mother Barberin at Chavarron, in the central massif, but when her husband, Jerome, a bricklayer in Paris,
returns home injured (after an accident) and ruined, the child learns that Mother Barberin is not his real mother and that, in fact, is an abandoned child. To
survive, Barberin (Jerome) will first sell the Roussette cow and then rent Remi for 40 francs to a band of traveling actors led by a certain Vitalis.
He gives performances with his savant dogs, Capi, Dolce and Zerbino and the monkey Joli-Coeur to earn a living. During a performance in Toulouse,
Vitalis is arrested and imprisoned for two months.
Remi wakes up alone with the animals and is invited by Mrs. Mulligan and his paralyzed son Arthur, a sick young Englishman who travels with his
mother aboard the Swan, a boat arranged for cruises.
Remi would love to stay with them, but the two months have passed and Vitalis is back on track with his band. During a snowstorm, two of the dogs are
killed by wolves and the monkey dies.
On the way, he meets Mattia, at the awful Garrofoli - child thief and boss of a gang of false cripples.
Then, in Paris, Vitalis dies of cold and Remi is welcomed to a gardener in Gentilly, who has two boys and two girls, one of whom, Lise, is moving.
Remi falls in love with Lise, who stays at his end for several days, during a pulmonary congestion. Remi and Capi stay with the gardener until it is closed.
Brothers and sisters are separated.
Waking up alone, Remi and Capi have to earn a living and resume their job as travelling actors.
They meet Mattia, who killed Garrofoli to escape and who will become for Remi like a brother. Being a good musician, he joins the band. To survive,
Remi goes to visit one of Lisa's brothers and replaces him as a miner. One day the mine is flooded, but Remi and a few others find a bag of air and survive
underground for fourteen days. Eventually they're saved.
Remi and Mattia buy a cow for mother Barberin and she tells Remi that a man came looking for him to take him to his real family. Remi, Mattia and
Capi then go to Paris to look for Barberin, but he is dead and his two children and the dog must go to England.
Here, they're given to the Driscolls, who claim to be Remi's parents, but who are actually a bunch of liars. Remi, Mattia and Capi stay with them until
the day Mattia hears a conversation between Mr. Driscoll and Arthur Mulligan's uncle, Mr. James Mulligan. The latter wants to kill Arthur so he can be the heir
to the family. After being unfairly thrown in jail, Remi flees on a boat to France with Mattia and Capi. Then, crossing all the rivers in search of Mrs. Mulligan
and Arthur, they find them in Switzerland with Lise, who had regained her speech.
Mrs. Mulligan reveals to Remi that he's her son. Taken right from birth from his mother, Lady Mulligan, by his uncle, James Mulligan, who wanted the
inheritance of his dead brother, Remi was given to Jeroboam Driscoll, who had been paid to make him disappear. But Driscoll entrusted Remi to the Barberin
couple.
Years passed and Remi married Lise, had a child and moved to England. Mattia became a great musician.
 Book`s characters
 Rémi: found child, eight-year-old, traveling musician, finally Arthur's brother.
 Vitalis: traveling musician, who buys Rémi from Jérôme Barberin.
 Mattia: a friend of Rémi', knows how to play all musical instruments and helps Rémi find his family.
 Arthur: the son of Madame Milligan, a disabled child who fights hard to survive, to heal from a terrible disease. A symbol of courage, meeting him
will mark Rémi who develops for him a great affection. They meet for the first time on the deck of the Swan, a vessel belonging to Arthur's
mother, after Vitalis' arrest at Toulose.
 Soul, Capi, Zerbino and Dolce: the animals in Vitalis' travelling band.
 Jérôme Barberin: the bricklayer who sells Rémi to Vitalis, the saltimbanc.
 Madame Barberin: Rémi's adoptive mother.
 Madame Milligan: Rich Englishgirl, Arthur's mother, lives on the deck of a paddle boat and sails with him on various rivers in France and who
turns out to be Rémi's own mother.
 James Milligan: Arthur's uncle and Mrs. Milligan's brother-in-law, but also the one who steals Rémi from his mother.
 Garrofoli: the very bad owner of children with musical talent and Mattia's uncle.
 Nenea Acquin: the old man who saves Rémi and cares for him.
 Alexis, Benjamin, Etienneande and Liza: his children nenea Acquin.
 My favourite proverbs
 If you live the present, you fix the past and you win the future.
 Few things can be achieved brutally, while gently you get a lot, if not
everything.
 Carefully and with listening you get to do anything.
 Intelligence is only really appreciated by comparison.
 You're all you are and you want to be, you're all the people who helped you and
who didn't, you're all the people you met and you're going to meet, you're the
teacher who failed you and the teacher who gave you courage.
 The most interesting part
In my opinion, the most interesting part of the book was the
beginning. Because it shows us the transition of the child
crying, dependent on the mother and the wiry, how he
becomes a man who takes his life into his own hands and
supports both himself and his friends, overcoming any
obstacle through his skills and strength of character .
 Why I recommend this book.
I recommend this book to all, it is a book of all ages, a book with a
wonderful structure and writing, a book that presents the cruel side of
the world and describes the journey through which a child of only 8
years passes to survive. A book that keeps you breathless and after
every page you read makes you rush to read the next one. A book from
which you can learn a lot of moral values and teachings about the right
path in life. Those are just a few reasons why I recommend the
book ,,Singur pe lume” by Hector Malot.