Beat Up The Poor Summary

In “Beat Up the Poor”, Baudelaire explores the idea that every man who does not accept the conditions of his life, sells his soul. This idea is mainly displayed in the beggar, as someone who does accept the conditions of his life and displays it by proving his worth to the narrator upon clashing. Baudelaire also expresses this belief through the narrator, giving the narrator a similar philosophy in which he tests on the beggar in the story. Through the two characters, Baudelaire effectively constructs the idea of a man selling his soul for not accepting the conditions of his life. Firstly, the beggar’s actions contribute to this idea as he proves his self-worth despite being looked down upon as a lowly vagabond on the streets. He understands …show more content…
The narrator appears to be aware of the harsh conditions some have to face, due to their financial problems and decides to test their will to defend their honour. He believes in man to accept their fates in order to keep their soul and their independence and gets proven right when getting beat up by the beggar, someone of apparent lower status. Although the narrator is the character that goes out to discover the truths of the equality of men, the narrator also show acceptance of his state in life. His confidence in himself and his “Demon of action”, while also considering himself to be close to vertigo or stupidity, reveals that he is so satisfied with his own life that he could wander about to test his seemingly absurd theory. With portraying his own philosophies through the narrator and also proving his point with the narrator’s acceptance of his life, Baudelaire successfully demonstrates how men sell their souls. All in all, Baudelaire manages to exploit the consequence of men who do not accept the conditions of his life through “Beat Up the Poor”. Most evidently, he does this through testing the beggar’s self-worth when confronted by the narrator. Baudelaire also exhibits this through the narrator himself as someone who understands himself in such a way that he made it his mission to discover the equality of