#<- french tag

[jelepermets]

Catching up on Les Mis - 1.1.1

Yeah I know, it's been two months, but I have more thoughts!! I will not skip chapters!! Every chapter is something I can ramble about!

First, I gotta mention the incredible footnotes in this edition of Les Mis. This was what struck me most for this chapter:

En Myriel, la religion catholique trouve donc sa vérité au delà d'elle même [...] tout le livre [est] occupé non pas [par] le réel mais à l'accomplir, selon la formule d'un fragment "la réalité n'ést que la réalité; l'idéal est la vérité.

Trans (me):

In Myriel the Catholic faith thus finds its truth beyond itself [...] the entire book is occupied not simply with reality, but with its accomplishment, as written in the phrase "Reality is only reality, the Ideal is the Truth."

The whole note is quite long so sorry if it doesn't quite make sense. Hugo talks a lot about the ideal versus the reality. I think nowhere more eloquently than with M Myriel, a religious leader in a faith that Hugo grew increasingly disillusioned with - famously so. I think it's important to note the way most religious leaders are portrayed in Les Mis. Even the sisters of the convent (minor spoilers) are not looked upon with only positive feelings by Hugo. M Myriel is the only exception, and this because he often goes specifically against the grain of what people suspect of a bishop.

But moving on from the footnote, I also think there are a lot of things in this first chapter that evoke or foreshadow Valjean's entrance into this small town. There's, for example:

Vrai ou faux, ce qu'on dit des hommes tient souvent autant de place dans leur vie et surtout dans leur destinée que ce qu'ils font.

Trans (Hapgood):

True or false, that which is said of men often occupies as important a place in their lives, and above all in their destinies, as that which they do.

I think the ways that this speaks to Valjean is pretty obvious, especially regarding Javert but of course also regarding his entire life. Every decision he takes is for fear of what people will see in him - namely his past as a convict. One of the reasons, I think, that we get so little of Valjean's life before he was arrested was not just because the monotony that misery makes of life, but also because it's ultimately not that which affects his destiny. His destiny is affected by what people think of him, at any given time.

I also think it's important to remember that the rumors that die down surrounding M Myriel are ultimately harmless. And that he's able to brush them off in part because he is a bishop. It doesn't matter if the townspeople think he's odd. He has a house and a home and doesn't have to depend on public opinion for his livelihood. He's high enough in class status that rumor is just that, rumor.

Obviously the same is not true for those in poverty, as Hugo drives home again and again. And as we shall see very soon (/have seen for all y'all not woefully behind like me).

[yuukirita]

He's doing hand talk :'D Cute and Sad.

[lesbianarthistory]

Gaetan Henrioux – The Kiss (2012)

[mail-me-a-snail]

couldnt decide which freak to give blu spy this time around so i drew all of his strange and offputting cross-faction loves ^_^ !!!!

based off the original pic under the cut !!

[sleepnoises]

due to factors such as "time pressure" and "tulle is of the devil" my expectations for this shirt are not high. but i spent a lot of time imagining these button bands and they turned out pretty nice

[felicitywilds]

how many licenses do you think aziraphale has? hes got one for possession of a firearm, and made them give him a test so he could get one to drive a car. what else has he done in order get a silly little slip of paper that says he can do something cool with a Human Invention? like i know hes a literal angel of heaven but do you think hes ordained

[thecmaly]

can't even cat nap in peace 😾

-

more windbreaker comics

[enlitment]

Reblog game based on the 3 viable career paths available to clever commoners in the 18th century

[dingledraw]

Try and shame Aziraphale about their body or their enjoyment of food and Crowley will eat you (◡‿◡✿)

[historicalshroe]

[sennamaticart]

On the first day of Christmas, my truelove gave to me....

[collophora]

Started as a tag but I had to do the whole Batch XD

[safrev]

Saint Just for my school art assignment

[n1ckelpistol]

i present my case

[shalom-iamcominghome]

American jews 🤝 Israeli jews

"holy shit, I'm so scared for you in your country - it isn't as bad for me in mine!"

[katewalker]

Les 2 tweets de la soirée pour moi. Et merci Thomas Jolly.