This Strange Eventful History

The Cassar family patriarch and the father of François, Gaston is 34 when the novel begins, introducing him through the framework of cultural identity. Born in Algeria to French parents, he’s emblematic of an entire generation of pieds-noirs, French Algerians who never lived in France. Gaston feels the push-pull relationship of his French and French Algerian roots and considers himself the embodiment of French values but the product of French colonialism. He mourns the loss of French Algeria and never again feels truly at home anywhere, though he does find happiness in the Mediterranean port city of Toulon.

Like the rest of the Cassars, Gaston is devoted to his family. He loves his wife, children, and grandchildren passionately and feels that his marriage in particular (despite its being an incestuous relationship with his aunt) was ordained by God. He and Lucienne have a strong bond: “Gaston loved above all, and looked forward to especially, that moment he would see Lucienne, his beloved wife” (38). Their marriage is the happiest depicted in the novel, and whereas Lucienne is deeply traditional in her gender role, Gaston doesn’t embody the aloofness that characterized many men of his generation. He’s both in touch with his own emotions and attuned to the emotional needs of his wife and children.