« A good man, a man of good sense always believes what he is told and that he finds in writing ».
The giant Gargantua illustrates a certain idea of humanism. The son of a king, he called upon to govern his country, the prince must be guided by a moral philosophy through education.
In his early years, Gargantua engaged in occupations, which gives Rabelais the opportunity to grace us with a list of expressions that are still used today.
The young giant eating out of the same bowl as his father’s dogs.
Uneducated child is placed on the same level as the animal. Then he experiments with the invention of the torchecul may come as a surprise, given the crudity of the words and the endless lists of wipes explored : women’s clothing, herbs, plants, fabrics, various objects and animals, rounded off by the a fluffy gosling.
In this chapter, Gargantua explores the great kingdoms: human, vegetable, animal. His body reveals itself to his mind. It was then entrusted to the « care » of « sorbonnagres » theologians, as Rabelais called them, upholders of purely retrograde scholastic thought that led to sterile education. His teachers Thubal Holopherne and Jobelin Bridé are representatives of darkness.
They drive Gargantua mad, niays, all hairy and stale. The page Eudémon, a master of the art of speaking delivers a perfect eulogy. The young giant, poorly taught by his neo preceptors, realises his inability to rise to such a level of humanity:
« He began to weep like a cow, and hid his face in his bonnet, and it was impossible to get a word out of him, any more than a fart from a dead donkey ».
Gargantua has excellent natural qualities: imagination, inventiveness, but his mind is uncultivated and needed to be cultivated. The method of his teacher Ponocrates (ponos work, cratos power) is pupil-centred. Rather than forcing them to read long, indigestible books, he gave them a taste for study through fun and practical activities. It encourages reflection through observation and comparison. To the old precepts that which denied the body and dried up the soul, Ponocrates opposed a balance of body and mind, the importance of physical exercise: Mens sana in corpore sano, a healthy mind in a healthy body. The educational programme was a match giant, with Gymnast and his physical exercises, Ponocrates a tireless worker and Eudemon, the perfect exponent of eloquence. Pedagogy was based on a programme encompassing all areas of human knowledge.
All like Erasmus, Rabelais reminded us that, without education, man is no more than a brute beast, an animal that cannot be taught. « one is not born a man, one becomes one ».
The ancient precept engraved on the pediment of the Temple of Delphi: « Know thyself » is, according to Rabelais, the « first stroke of philosophy ». The giant must grow in knowledge and shun the company of people [whom] he does not want to be like » (Saint Paul).
The question of education in the novel shows Gargantua as a character in constant evolution. It is once educated that man, like the giant, achieves humanitas (from Latin), which refers to everything that makes man « superior » to the animal (civility, benevolence, savoir-vivre, culture, etc.). This new education, which is based on the unity of body and soul is similar to a healthy lifestyle where taking care of yourself becomes an art of living.
