God I love this chapter. I think if I ever had to compile a list of 'most Victor Hugo chapters ever,' this would rank pretty high. It's beautiful and complex and profound and just a little bit obscure. It's got light symbolism and hints at drowning and some serious Dante vibes and historical references and, just, everything. I have so many things I want to talk about, and I don't think there's a way to make it not scattered, so have some section headers instead!
Hugo's philosophy and overall point:
Breaking it down, the general thrust of Hugo's argument here is that ideas run through society like mine tunnels run through the ground. They're there, twisting atop each other, intersecting with each other, drawing from each other, all there for those with the knowledge and the inclination to find them. (And, I would argue, that we can take this one step further, and say that it is entirely possible to accidentally step too hard on a piece of ground and punch through into a mine shaft you didn't even know existed, and that this is what happened to Marius.) The tunnels closest to the surface of society are made up of good ideas and philosophies, and the further down you dig the more shadowy and nefarious the ideas and their diggers become, until you hit the bottom, where there is no darkness at all, only Abyss.
I'm really intrigued by the stratigraphy Hugo draws up, the one that goes Jan Hus, Martin Luther, Descartes, Voltaire, Condorcet, Robespierre, Marat, Babeuf. I was hoping Donougher would have a helpful footnote, but she does not, and I don't really have time to do enough of my own research into it to really get what Hugo was going for. But I feel like, for his readers at the time, this list would have been a very, very clear philosophical statement about what Hugo values. (She does say that Hus was a priest who challenged the authority of the pope and the church during the middle ages, which fits well with Hugo's general opinions about the church and its hierarchy.) I'll get more into the Dante vibes in a sec, but this is definitely part of what pinged that for me -- this method of using very real people with very real ideas as a way to explain and illustrate Hugo's social values and priorities.
The unknowable vastness of nature:
Hugo talks about the earth here the way he usually talks about the ocean. It's actually kind of notable to me that this is not an extended ocean metaphor, because that's usually his go-to for this kind of thing. But I guess he wanted to emphasize that, unlike the ocean and its vastness and uncaring, alien nature, the tunnels beneath society are manmade and, to a degree, under man's control. It's a metaphor of Progress, linking intellectual and social movements (religion, philosophy, Revolution, etc) with technological progress (mining and drilling and digging). He's got a light touch with it, which is actually less unusual for him than we usually give him credit for, but that link is definitely there. Progress means both the progression of ideas and the progression of technologies and, for Hugo, you really cannot separate the two. (Also, this chapter could honestly be a Combeferre speech? I don't know if he would have used the exact same stratigraphy of philosophies or not, but the overall tone and message is so, so Combeferre.)
But here's the thing. Yes, the tunnels are made by men, but they are still deep in the earth, and the earth is ultimately more powerful than man. And, like the ocean, the deeper down you get the darker and more crushing the earth becomes. I really love this quote, which really sums up the dangers in trying to master nature too much: "There is a point where depth is tantamount to burial, and where light becomes extinct." And this doesn't even seem to be a warning about digging too deeply, more just a statement of fact about what happens if you sever your connection to the sky too strongly. It reminds me of the last time we were completely buried, during Jean Valjean's nightmare. The lack of light is not itself evil, but men without access to light will almost inevitably feel evil growing inside of them. Which brings us to our next point:
Light symbolism
So honestly the light symbolism here is pretty straightforward and we don't really need to break it down. We're reinforcing the idea that light is good and darkness is bad, and continuing to directly tie light to the heavens. We also have people and ideas who generate their own light and bring it with them, but they don't seem to be entirely capable of transmitting their light to others. We get this really intriguing bit: "Surely, although a divine and invisible chain unknown to themselves, binds together all these subterranean pioneers who, almost always, think themselves isolated, and who are not so, their works vary greatly, and the light of some contrasts with the blaze of others. The first are paradisiacal, the last are tragic." I'm not entirely sure what Hugo means by 'first' and 'last' here, because the obvious implication is that those who emit light are paradisiacal and those who blaze are tragic, and that feels very odd. I think, given the rest of the paragraph, that he may be referring more to those closer to the sky and those farthest away from it, but it's oddly unclear which means that I think he's working on levels that I do not understand.
We get even more explicit about this when we get into this business of men with starry eyes and men with shadowy eyes. It's a pretty straightforward concept, and a phenomenal piece of worldbuilding for some kind of specfic, either an LM AU or something wholly original. Honestly, this whole chapter is great worldbuilding for a specfic piece, and I'm honestly kind of tempted to poke at it.
Dante
This isn't explicit, but I'm getting a lot of Inferno vibes, with this whole underground society that gets darker and deeper and more malicious the further you get from the surface. Because this is Hugo, I'm actually inclined to suggest that the Dante vibes are part of why he chose this particular metaphor, rather than sticking to the ocean or the forest or something. Like I said, I don't think it's his only reason for reaching for something manmade, but Hugo is fully capable of working on multiple levels, and allusions to classic literature is one of those levels.
Words:
This is also, just, a beautiful chapter. I'm pulling from Hapgood right now, because I'm at work, but I wanted to share some of the quotes that made me go, "oh."
-The Encyclopedia, in the last century, was a mine that was almost open to the sky.
-For in the sacred shadows there lies latent light. Volcanoes are full of a shadow that is capable of flashing forth. Every form begins by being night.
-Jean-Jacques lends his pick to Diogenes, who lends him his lantern.
This is serious stuff, folks, we’re working with black inks. Which means the glare on these photos is irredeemably bad.
My first thought was that the substage (where the mechanics required to operate, say, a revolving barricade set might be stored) is what might be referred to in the social sciences as the “underclass.” There’s a straightforward metaphor of capitalism in these pages, a description of “vast simultaneous activity…which slowly transforms the upper through the lower and the outer through the inner.” Also a good argument for unionizing.
But Hugo isn’t necessarily making class distinctions here. In this case, ‘lower’ simply means distance from social institutions. An example of the upper class mines might be back room political dealings that enable policy compromise. Or, more extremely, the Patron-Minette murdering political opponents. In the lower class, it may look like taking an under the table job to avoid the tax system. Or it may be collectivizing with the intention of revolution. If Hugo was alive today, he wouldn’t need all this complicated metaphor of mines and miners, he could simply reference the deep web.
I want to quibble with a characterization Hugo makes, that “at a certain depth, the excavations become impenetrable to the soul of civilisation, the respirable limit of man is passed; the existence of monsters becomes possible.” I’d push back and say the existence of monsters on the surface allows them to be created below. If I may wade into metaphor, the ore dug from these mines is done on the demand for jewelry. Something monstrous in the system fuels the creation of monsters outside the system.
But not always! Hugo says himself, “The social soil in mined everywhere, sometimes for good, sometimes for evil.” Les Amis are workers in these mines, just as P-M are (though Hugo makes a distinction of depth which I will talk about later). Some of the ‘extrajudicial’ operations taking place are intended to maintain the social structure above while others are aimed at overturning it.
I want to emphasize that I believe the existence of these mines below society is entirely neutral. Emile Durkheim (daddy of sociology) said deviation from normative systems is necessary to a functioning society not only because it gives us boundaries in which right and wrong are defined, but it also provides us a way to collectively recognize where those boundaries can and should be changed. And the collective nature of this process is important to Hugo as well. He says, “an indivisible chain links together all these subterranean pioneers, who almost always believe they are alone, yet are not.” Where we derive moral value lies in the nature of the deviation, which we will get into very soon, as we continue the dive into the darkest depths.
If all life’s a stage, then we need to talk about mines and miners- described in theatrical terms as the third level down- who occupy a very important role in the book.
Mines here have both a positive as well as a negative meaning with shadows giving birth to a new dawn full of light. It’s interesting because elsewhere Hugo associates progress and birth of new ideas with fixing your gaze up at the sky whereas here, he does it with digging. In some ways it makes sense, there are quite a few gardeners in the book who are concerned with the important work of digging (Myriel for one spreading his charity and love of mankind).
The underground mines reference here also ties the sewers as a link to progress as well as maybe a call to change things on a deeper rather than surface level. For progress on a vast scale there must be change from within the foundations themselves.
It is interesting too that there is something in common between the miners of revolutionary ideas, miners of philosophies, etc. Here, the revolutionaries are also disturbing the ground to bring about change and what is more, they are working outside the bounds of common society to bring about deeper change. Therefore, future might also be found underneath. And these miners of ideas are looking constantly at the sky. They gaze heavenward focused on their mission of improvement, that of seeking light underground, which is kind of paradoxical but I'll give Hugo that.
It also maybe leaves room for imperfections which sort of negates Grantaire being satisfied with only an ideal/perfect revolution, because you are still making progress even though on the surface level it may feel that you have not achieved much, there is still a lot happening underneath and sometimes ideas combine and move forward.
However, not all miners and mines are good, there is light underneath but only up to a certain level. Beyond that there is darkness where light cannot escape and crime breeds, it is the light which is important, once you are cut off from that light you come to the part of the mine which is where crime breeds.
Criminals are at the lowest level which has been alluded to as Inferi, the hell in Dante’s Divine Comedy. Philosophers, revolutionaries as well as criminals dig underneath until they suddenly disrupt the order of society and society shifts/changes in response.
What I found interesting is that Jean Jacques Rousseau is compared to Diogenes. I don’t really know much about them, but some reference chasing found that Rousseau and Diogenes have had much in common on account of both of them being referred to as Cynics.
The only thing I know about Cynics is that they advocated rejection of materialism in favour of living in accord with nature and reason and I think Rousseau’s philosophy builds on from man in nature being neutral – neither good nor bad, to try and solve the question of what causes inequality, his texts also said to influence the French Revolution in some way. If anyone has more comparisons between these two, I would love to know more, I don’t really understand the philosophical comparisons.
Saint Simonians and Fourierists are also in a side tunnel. I think by the time of Hugo writing the novel, Saint Simonianism and Fourierism had become concerned with different things even though they were both ideas of progress, therefore Hugo is not dismissing them completely.
The revolutionaries like Robespierre, Marat and Babeuf also find their way digging through the mines at a much deeper level which is interesting. Marat and Babeuf are also pretty radical in their views and talk about the poor, so I don’t really know why they find themselves much further down, maybe because of their role as agitators?
Further down below, Patron Minette are corrupting society through their underground activities and their secret societies. I can definitely see how you might make a case that Patron Minette as a group are the inverse of the amis- they stand in complete opposition to all the things the amis are fighting for even though they both are miners.
The amis on the other hand are outside society chipping away trying to create a better world with their eyes fixed on the heavens to create an ideal underground.
DRAGON BALL LEGENDS Mod 3.7.1 Apk [All levels Completed/ 1 Hit Kill]
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DRAGON BALL LEGENDS Mod 3.7.1 Apk [All levels Completed/ 1 Hit Kill]
DRAGON BALL LEGENDS Mod 3.7.1 Apk [All levels Completed/ 1 Hit Kill]
DRAGON BALL LEGENDS 3.7.1 Mod Apk is an action game from the BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc’s Play Studio, released on Android Gat. In this Android game, players can choose the three characters to fight against other players from around the world at the same time. Participate in your legendary fight in the Battle of 1 v. 1 against rival players from all over the world and defeat them. So control your favorite warrior and create a special explosive move with the touch of a finger.
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Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Mod 3.7.1 Apk [Free Shopping]
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Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Mod 3.7.1 Apk [Free Shopping]
Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery 3.7.1 Mod Apk – Harry Potter adventure game for Android
Normal version + Mod version (unlimited diamonds) individually
tested with online run
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery 3.7.1 Mod – is a popular adventure game from Jam City, Inc. for Android that is available for free on Google Play and at your request The latest update has been released with the mod for download and is in front of you! By installing Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery on your tablet or Android phone, you can experience an interesting adventure game with beautiful 3D graphics made from the Harry Potter movie series! The story of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery goes back many years before Harry Potter received a letter from the Hogwarts school.
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Franchise Basketball 2021 Mod 3.7.1 Apk [God Mod]
Franchise Basketball 2021 3.7.1 Mod Apk [God Mod]
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Good Pizza, Great Pizza Mod 3.7.0 Apk [Unlimited Money]
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Good Pizza, Great Pizza Mod 3.7.0 Apk [Unlimited Money]
Good Pizza, Great Pizza 3.7.0 Mod Apk – Fast food management game for Android
Normal version + Mod version (infinite money) individually
tested with offline execution
Good Pizza, Great Pizza A new, interesting and entertaining game with a lovely feature set from TapBlaze game development studio for Android, which has been released for free, and its latest version, along with an infinite money mode, has been released for download and is in front of you! In Good Pizza, Great Pizza, you control and manage a pizza shop, a wide range of ingredients are available to help you make money! Bake delicious pizzas and make money selling them! By raising money, you can gradually grow your shop and become richer day by day!
There are more than 80 different customers in the game, each of whom likes a certain type of pizza, do you think you can attract their attention by baking delicious pizzas ?! Just like having a fast food shop in the real world, your shop also has certain opening hours, by opening the time from one hour to another and then give yourself a break! It is also possible to upgrade the equipment in the game, by upgrading them, increase the cooking speed and double the excitement! If you are interested in gamesYou are a chef and restaurant manager. Without a doubt, Good Pizza, Great Pizza will attract your attention with its wonderful design and construction!
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Bullet Echo Mod 3.7.1 Apk (Unlimited Money)
Bullet Echo Mod 3.7.1 Apk (Unlimited Money)
Action game with Mod Version
Fully Tested | Allmoddedapk
Bullet Echo 3.7.1 Mod – An action game from ZeptoLab game development studio, which has been released for free on Get Android. In this Android game, you have to form a team with your friends and use your shooting skills and prove yourself in royal battles, and with the points you earn, dozens of different characters each have their own unique positive and tactical aspects. Are open. Use special abilities and use battles to win battles. Choose the right tactical position and be the only team to win by following your team’s strategy. Survive against the bullets and grenades of the enemies and use the map to loot and ambush and shoot at the enemies from behind. Shoot at enemies in different environments by participating in multiplayer modes.
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Fighters! There are a bunch of improvements in this update:
– Introducing a communication system during the battle.
– More realistic steps’ visualization.
– A brand new look and feel of the shop.
– Changes in the sponsor’s chest – collect 5 per day!
– Android 5 no longer supported.
