 The fable is built around the main character, symbolically named Isidore Lechat.He is a predator without any scruples, predecessor of the modern masters of business intrigue, a "brasseur d'affaires" and money-grubber, who is a product of the new world, a figure who makes money from everything and spreads his tentacles out over the world.He sacrifices his children in his obsession to get more and more money and power