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Illustrated portrait of Simone

A character in Story of the Eye

Simone

The narrator’s fearless partner and the strongest force behind the escalating transgressions.

What they want in The narrator’s account

To intensify pleasure by violating boundaries until no ordinary prohibition retains its power.

The book

Cover of Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille
Story of the EyeGeorges Bataille, 1928

Bataille’s short, controlled escalation of erotic obsession into surreal violence and transgression.

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At a glance

Partner
The unnamed narrator
Role
Principal instigator
Pattern
Escalating transgression

Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Simone treats taboo as a creative problem and repeatedly invents a more extreme game. Her confidence drives the action, but the book offers little ordinary biography outside the shared pursuit.

The portrait keeps her adolescent status clear and avoids turning the novel’s explicit material into a sexualized image.

How the book draws them

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • Adolescent girlShe is represented without adult glamour.
  • Simple 1920s clothingClothing is conservative and historically plausible.
  • Fierce direct gazeHer agency is unmistakable.
  • Upright self-possessionNo erotic pose appears.
  • Close engraved bustNo eggs, eyes, or sexual props appear.
  • Muted rust accentThe color conveys force without repeating bright red.
What happens to SimoneHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

Simone participates in the church violence and final grotesque transformation of the eye motif. The story ends without punishing her.

If you like Story of the Eye

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