The Strangest Character in Beauty and the Beast

There is a specific character that I find myself boggled more and more by as the years go on. I have spent many hours just trying to figure out what this guy's deal is, and I still don't get it. If you've seen Beauty and the Beast one time, you know that Belle doesn't fit in with the rest of the crowd. When you've seen is a few more times, you notice just how vague their statements are. Like they can't quite put their finger on it. Just that she's strange, funny, odd, and peculiar. There are just a couple specifics that get pointed out. She has a "crazy" father, she doesn't go gaga for the town muscleman, and most importantly: SHE READS. This is her one hobby. This is one of the things that drew Belle to the Beast after she was charmed by their snowball fight and how awkward he is when feeding wild birds. Her love of books was a big part about her character and set her apart from absolutely everyone else in the movie as the only one who reads. Since having books and enjoying them is such a taboo in this land, why on earth do they even have a book shop. This leads me to the character that confuses me more than anyone. The bookseller.

Remember, this is a book SHOP. Not a library. The first thing Belle does in this film is return a book she borrowed from this guy. He most likely has exactly one customer that comes around, not even buying the one thing that he sells. He spends his days just dusting off the books that nobody else cares about. Why? Is it because he's too old to do anything else and the rest of the town just humors him? He might do a little baking in the back, considering he's wearing an apron when we meet him. He doesn't seem to even like reading himself. When Belle returns the book she brought, and borrows another, the bookseller is flabbergasted that she would even consider borrowing a book that she's already read TWICE! I don't even read books that often, but I can tell you that I've read my favorites more than twice. He is so tickled by this girl who comes in and spends a little time with him as she picks books to not buy, that he straight up give her a book. How did this guy end up with this book store that he doesn't even like. I actually have a theory.

While me and Andrea have spend many days discussing our favorite films, it became clear that the true villain in Beauty and the Beast got off without any consequences. If you ask me any time other than right now, I would not be able to tell you this guy's name but the true villain is Monsieur D'Arque. He, unlike our bookseller friend, has a name. It's not said in the movie, but that's his name. He also seems to be one of the few intelligent people in the town. The only other intelligent adults are Belle and her father. Those are the people that he ends up targeting to lock up. This man most likely has been pulling the strings of the strong oafs like Gaston all of his life. With people like that on his side, he's able to control the town. The best way to control the population is the get rid of the intellectuals first, because they will be the ones most likely to take you down. So what do you do? You tell everyone they are crazy. Gaston isn't smart, but he at least knows that there's a guy you can pay to lock people up and call them crazy. Monsieur D'Arque is evil, rich, and the most powerful man in the movie. By the end of the movie, Monsieur D'Arque is just fine. He's still living it up in his town of dummies, rich as a king. I believe the first victims of his purge were the bookseller's parents. People actively loving books who are bringing them to the masses? They have to go. The town can still be content with a dumb old man who would rather just give away the only things he sells to his only customer.