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What causes the conflict between the brothers in Pierre et Jean?
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Guy de Maupassant
French author Guy de Maupassant, photograph by Nadar (Gaspard-FĂ©lix Tournachon), c. 1885.
In the novel Pierre et Jean (1888) by Guy de Maupassant, the conflict between the two brothers is driven by the protagonist Pierreâs intense jealousy toward his half-brother, Jean. This animosity arises from the discovery that Jean is the child of their motherâs past adultery.1