Family ties
A family is a group of blood or marriage related people; however, this situation doesn’t mean that these people are close. On the contrary, there are many cases, when members of one family treat each other badly or behave like strangers. When Mr. Philosopher asks Rameau whether he sees his prominent uncle, Rameau gives a positive answer and says that “he walks past me on the street”. Rameau’s uncle is so cold not only to his infamous nephew, but to his wife and daughter also. The irony is that all these people are considered to be parts of the same family, but they could as well be strangers.
The elite
Rameau is a down-to-earth type of a person. He enjoys “a good table, good company, good wines, fine women” and doesn’t want to bother himself with important issues. He is also not very fond of men of genius. He says that “we don’t need them”, because “they are the ones who change the face of the Earth”. The irony is that his words illustrate attitude of the majority of ordinary people to big changes, for no one can guarantee that a brilliant idea which appears in a head of a genius could be implemented in a way that genius imagines it.
Importance of forgetting
Rameau often earns his bread entertaining the rich with his antics. They agree to give him food or maybe even money, while he agrees to pretend to be a fool. Mr. Philosopher is rather surprised, because he used to believe that people tend not to notice their ignorance, laziness and other sins, simply “forgiving them in themselves” and “condemning” the same qualities in other people. The irony is that more often than not people really tend to judge negative qualities in others, pretending not to notice their own faults.
