 Rastignac 's family , off @-@ stage , also sacrifices extensively for him . Convinced that he cannot achieve a decent status in Paris without a considerable display of wealth , he writes to his family and asks them to send him money : " Sell some of your old jewelry , my kind mother ; I will give you other jewels very soon . " They do send him the money he requests , and – although it is not described directly in the novel – endure significant hardship for themselves as a result . His family , absent while he is in Paris , becomes even more distant despite this sacrifice . Although Goriot and Vautrin offer themselves as father figures to him , by the end of the novel they are gone and he is alone . 
