The importance of money and how much of it each character has is huge in this story. In the second paragraph of the book, Balzac begins with descriptions of the characters and scene by saying, “Nevertheless, when this drama begins, in 1819, there was a poor young woman living in the pension” (pg. 1). This immediate recognition of the fact that this woman was poor means that money is a very important theme in the book and something that is a part of Parisian culture. One of the main storylines in the book, is Rastignac’s hunger for wealth. Rastignac goes to great lengths to become wealthy, including asking his already poor family for loans, and gambling to stay afloat. How much money people had regulated where the people stayed in the Pension, what people wore, who they hung out with, and even how they traveled.

     Most endeavors in the story revolved around money and greed for it. Vautrin has a man killed to get Victorine her inheritance, without a guarantee that she would even receive it. Mademoiselle Michonneau rats out Vautrin for a mere 1000 franks, for which she gets kicked out of the pension in the end. Balzac’s father was a very poor man and as a young boy, had to rise up the social ladder to become successful. Obviously money and social standing is big to Balzac and this book reveals just how big. It seems as if every time someone in the book tries to chase after wealth and fortune, they end up getting screwed over. Finally in the end, Rastignac seems to see the light and is “sucked out the honey” of the beehive known as Paris. I believe Balzac wraps the novel up this way because he wants readers to learn the lesson of making money honestly and seeing past the corruptness (pg. 217).