<p>The Red and the Black is a psychological historical novel that accounts for the attempts of a regional young man to grow socially beyond his humble upbringing with a blend of skill, hard work, deception, and hypocrisy. He ultimately allows his passions to betray him. The novel has a two-fold literary purpose, being both a psychological portrait of the romantic protagonist, Julien Sorel, and an analytic, sociological satire of the French socia...