#feel like i was just dragged through the parisian sewers of 1832

[ptompetompetomalleyways]

that post semi feeling am i right

[readingraebow]

Les Misérables Section Ten

Part 5 - Books 1-3

1. Why does Enjolras encourage some men to leave the barricade? He's sure that they're all going to die and doesn't want men who have families sacrificing themselves because that's a worse kind of abandonment. Even though dying at the barricade would be a noble act, it would leave their families destitute since most women who were left without a provider turned to prostitution and most children who were left orphaned died. Plus, he says that the barricade can be manned by thirty men so why sacrifice forty? That's wasteful since those men could be useful elsewhere. So he encourages men who have families to leave.

2. Who provides a fifth uniform so a fifth man can escape death at the barricade? Five men are selected to leave the barricade but there are only four uniforms. So they ask Marius to choose which man stays and which four will leave. Marius is struggling with this since he'll basically be sentencing a man to death when another uniform appears on the heap. Jean Valjean joined them while they were trying to decide which man should stay, sensed the problem and stripped off his own uniform to allow all five men to be saved.

3. What does Jean Valjean request as compensation for his sacrifice for the Republic? So Javert has been tied up in the tavern all this time and the battle is ~heating up and everyone is going to defend the barricade. So Enjolras says that the last man out is to shoot Javert in the head. Well, Jean Valjean hears this and asks if he's still entitled to a reward for his help with the Republic. Enjolras says that he is and Jean Valjean asks if he can be the one to put a bullet in Javert's head. Enjolras asks if anyone objects to this, no one does and he agrees. But just as Jean Valjean is about to shoot Javert, gunfire breaks out and everyone goes to defend the barricade. So Jean Valjean unties Javert and tells him to come with him. He takes him to the back of the barricade, tells him where he's been living and under what name and then lets him go.

4. What are the Parisian sewers like when Bruneseau visits them in 1805? What are they like in 1832? When Bruneseau visits the sewers in 1805, they are, uh, not great. The are suuuuper unclean (made worse by the fact that they are sewers) and frequently back up and flood the streets of Paris. The entire sewer system had been built by several different monarchs so the entire system pretty much didn't make sense. With passages twisting and turning without reason, rising and falling, with scars on the floors and gashes in the walls, the structural nightmare was nothing compared to the actual sewer itself. Reeking cesspits, poisonous ooze on the walls, drops falling from the room, darkness: basically it was Babylon's digestive system and it needed a cleansing. Which is what it ended up getting. By 1832, the entire thing had been overhauled so it was clean, cold, straight and correct. But it also took cholera to correct this since the sewer system was part of the problem of public hygiene. Basically because the sewers were constructed wrong, the sewer system also contaminated their water system. So it wasn't until that was corrected that the sewers could be overhauled, sanitized and begin to run smoothly.

5. How does Jean Valjean determine which path to take? So the sewer system is uneven and the parts that slope downhill lead toward the river. When Jean Valjean first enters the sewer, he incorrectly gauges where he is. But he rightly realizes that the sewers are basically the same as the streets above. So he pretty much wanders blindly into the sewer, hoping to make it away from the battle area and into the part of Paris where people are still living their everyday lives. Eventually he realizes that he's going downhill and also realizes that in this way, he will eventually reach the river. When he reaches another opening, he also feels the outside of it to see if it's smaller. If it is, he passes it, rightly thinking it's a dead end and he's continuing in the main tunnel.

6. Who does Jean Valjean meet at the sewer gate, and what offer does this person make to him? Just as Jean Valjean believes that he's stuck in the sewers and will die there without getting out, Thénardier appears on the other side of the gate. He sees Marius and thinks he's dead and says that if Jean Valjean will split whatever money he got off of Marius when he killed him, Thénardier will unlock the gate with his key and let him out. Well, Jean Valjean doesn't have his wallet and, of course, he didn't get any money off of Marius when he killed him and Marius doesn't have any money any way. So Jean Valjean manages to find a little bit of money in his pockets. Thankfully, this seems to satisfy Thénardier and he unlocks the gate and lets Jean Valjean out.

7. Who does Jean Valjean meet outside of the sewer? So it turns out Thénardier was being pursued by Javert. After Jean Valjean let Javert go, he returned to his normal duties and one of them was guarding the sewer gate. He saw Thénardier go that way and was waiting for him to show himself. Because Thénardier believed Jean Valjean murdered Marius, he actually let him out of the sewer because he thought a murderer would be of more interest to Javert. Well, Javert doesn't even recognize Jean Valjean until Jean Valjean tells him who he is. Jean Valjean decides to surrender himself but asks for one more thing before Javert does with him whatever he likes: he wants to take Marius home.

8. How does the night end for Jean Valjean and for Marius? When Jean Valjean and Javert take Marius home to his grandfather's house, everyone thinks he's dead. But Marius's family calls in a doctor who examines him and discovers that he has only minor wounds. While he is attending to Marius, Marius's grandfather appears. They hadn't woken him but the room they were in was next to his and old men are light sleepers. So he comes in and also believes Marius is dead. He is fretting about that and the fact that Marius died hating him when all he would've had to do was come home and the old man would've forgiven him. It's around this time that Marius wakes up and his grandfather faints, haha. Meanwhile, after dropping off Marius, Jean Valjean asks if he can have one more favor. He wants to go to his own home to say goodbye to Cosette and settle his affairs. Javert agrees and, when they arrive, pays the cab driver. Jean Valjean goes inside and happens to look back out the window and notices that Javert is gone.

  Section Ten Reading Journal

So I had a little trouble with this section. The battle at the barricade is such a climactic moment and it’s so charged that I wanted to just read it and get on with it. And Hugo puts a LOT of stuff in in the middle of the barricade. And I fully realize who I’m talking about (throwback to: the workings of a convent, the Parisian water system, a bird’s eye view of Paris) but it just felt really unnecessary? Like it was dragging out the battle a little too much when I was already struggling to get through it because so many of my favs died.

And between all of the stuff that felt like it didn’t need to be there, the battle felt almost too short? Like it was quick and done. If there’s anywhere in this 1200 page book that I could’ve used MORE details, it was there.

But there were still some fun things. It was a really great send off for most of Les Amis (but also they could’ve been mentioned more; especially since we had a pretty in depth introduction to each member. It would’ve been nice to have the same kind of send off). But my absolute favorite thing about this section was that Grantaire slept through THE WHOLE BATTLE. THE WHOLE THING. And I 100% cried when he woke up just to die with Enjolras so Enjolras didn’t have to die alone. I’M FINE. IT’S FINE. *hides giant pile of used tissues*

So I can’t wait to finish this book. I can’t believe there’s only one section left. It has definitely been a long time coming though and I’m excited to see how it all turns out!!