The Confessions

“Let the trumpet of the Day of Judgment sound when it will, I will present myself before the Sovereign Judge with this book in my hand. I will say boldly: ‘This is what I have done, what I have thought, what I was. I have told the good and the bad with equal frankness. I have neither omitted anything bad, nor interpolated anything good. If I have occasionally made use of some immaterial embellishments, this has only been in order to fill a gap caused by lack of memory.”

From the beginning, Rousseau establishes himself as an unreliable narrator, despite his claims to present a truthful narrative. He states, unequivocally, that what he writes is true, while simultaneously acknowledging its “embellishments.”

“I believe that no individual of our species was naturally more free from vanity than myself. I raised myself by fits and starts to lofty flights, but immediately fell down again into my natural languor. My liveliest desire was to be loved by all who came near me.”

By claiming that no one is freer from vanity than himself, Rousseau exemplifies the vanity he rejects. Throughout Confessions, Rousseau makes sweeping claims about his own humility, placing himself on a pedestal above all others.

“I am a man of very strong passions, and, while I am stirred by them, nothing can equal my impetuosity; I forget all discretion, all feelings of respect, fear and decency; I am cynical, impudent, violent and fearless; no feeling of shame keeps me back, no danger frightens me; with the exception of the single object which occupies my thoughts, the universe is nothing to me. But all this lasts only for a moment, and the following moment plunges me into complete annihilation.”

Throughout his memoir, Rousseau embodies dualities, often despising the very qualities he possesses. In this passage, he professes that he is without fear and full of aggression, then quickly pivots and claims to be timid and shy.