Anatomy of a justified sinner in Sartre's “L'enfance d'un chef” through the object‐relations psychology

Abstract

Jean-Paul Sartre's closing novella of Le Mur (1939), "L'enfance d'un chef," is the most ambitious and intricate piece of the collection of stories. It is admissible to say that it predated his existential biographies in this form of fictionalized blueprint. The story minutely follows the life and edification of Lucien Fleurier, the son of a successful industrialist, who matures into a self-absorbed aspirant leader and hateful ideologist during the interwar period