Parcours de Santé

by Jean-Paul Jody

     One of the main characters in this novel is named Joseph. He has been in prison in Paris (the prison is called Santé, hence the title of book) for six years. It's not really clear exactly why Joseph has been in prison all that time but that's not really the point of the story. He is a criminal and that's all the author wants us to know. 

     Right at the beginning of the novel, Joseph has been given permission to leave prison for just one weekend. He is planning to escape so he can meet up with his penpal, Mariette. He has a very clever way of going about it. Although I disagree personally with trying to escape from prison, I do think that Joseph is clever and ingenious, which is just another way of saying that he has bright ideas. 

     An object which represents this personality trait is, obviously, a light bulb! Why, may you ask? A lightbulb lights up a room, making it bright. It feels like you feel when you have a bright and creative ideas. When you have a bright idea or a solution to something, generally you are happy. In the same way, light in a gloomy or obscure room makes you happy too! Another reason I chose to represent Joseph with a lightbulb is because in cartoons, a lightbulb always appears above a character's head when they come up with an idea. Of course, sometimes the ideas are not always good in cartoons, but that's the same for Joseph! His idea is a bad one, but it certainly shows his imagination.