https://doi.org/10.31261/ZOOPHILOLOGICA.2024.13.08
The topic of voluntary refraining from eating meat is present in two most important novels of Reymont: The Peasants and The Promised Land. In the former vegetarianism is practiced by Roch, who is an itinerant teacher and a promoter of Polish patriotism among the villagers. In the latter the factory owner, Bucholc, seeks treatment in a vegetarian diet prescribed by doctor Hamerstein.
This article analyses excerpts from the novel in which the resignation from meat is mentioned. A comparative reading allows to notice the diversity of reasons for which Reymont’s characters practice vegetarianism. In the case of Bucholc, his only motivation seems to be the necessity to recover from his health issues. But reasons of Roch’s vegetarianism are more complicated. Tadeusz Budrewicz suggested that it might result from Roch’s belonging to Mariavite Church, which was promoting meatless diet.
This article also explores Reymont’s biography and its vegetarian motifs. He was a friend of Józef Drzewiecki, a doctor promoting veganism, who might have been an inspiration for Hamerstein. Vegetarianism was also popular among some political groups as a way to rebuild the Polish nation spiritually and physically. This might have been a reason standing behind the Roch’s abstaining from eating meat.
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No. 1 (13) (2024)
Published: 2024-06-18
10.31261/ZOOPHILOLOGICA
English
Русский
Język Polski