I’m back! And while I want to go back to the digression, I really did not want to miss this chapter. This is one of my favourite chapters in the Brick.
From the larger picture and talk about the revolutions and 1830, we have now zoomed back in to Enjolras and his lieutenants. And we really get to know them very well here through a focus on Enjolras thinking about his friends. When we were introduced to the amis, we were still being told about them but now we get to see who they really are, and it is that wonderful combination of extreme dorkiness and puns (taking the pulse of the medical school, lol Enjolras, you wonderful nerd you) along with seriousness and focus that really works in endearing me to them.
I like the idea of Enjolras sending each of his friends to the places according to their specialties and what he knows about them. Enjolras loves and knows his friends very well and we get a glimpse of that in this chapter.
I also love how much of their building alliances is to visit the different places and especially with Bossuet, Enjolras tells him to chat to law students, because Bossuet’s main quality is his witticisms and puns and that is how he wins people over to their side, so Enjolras specifically mentions that. He keeps Courgourd d’Aix himself which is interesting, perhaps Enjolras thinks that he might better be able to convince or talk to them, perhaps the fact that they have their meeting spot near quarries has some interesting meaning.
I also love the fact that despite Marius never showing up after attending a couple of meetings, Enjolras still thinks of him as a valued member of their group and was relying on him. Maybe he thought Marius would be able to do a good job of rallying people because as we know from his Napoleon speech, he can be passionate when talking about things.
And then we have the iconic dialogue between Enjolras and Grantaire over which much has been said already and I’m probably only repeating everything.
Grantaire specifically says that he believes in Enjolras’ person and that his beliefs are tied to that. It’s interesting this sort of dis balance in their dynamic, Grantaire needs Enjolras but that relationship does not work the other way, not at this moment. Enjolras could have sent someone else to the Barrier du Maine.
So he very rightly questions Grantaire to see if he is really serious about undertaking this job and Grantaire on the other hand deliberately misinterprets and takes everything too literally as a joke.
Grantaire knows Enjolras well enough at this point, yet he still makes jokes at every turn and is extremely annoying in this scene while Enjolras is way more patient with him than I would ever be at this moment. And yet I think Grantaire may know the Social Contract and maybe has read the books on French Revolution that he thinks will impress Enjolras and he does go to get his Robespierre waistcoat which he could have gotten some point in the past, maybe to tease Enjolras, maybe because he really wants to believe in the Revolution but is not quite there yet.
He still however lacks the belief necessary, which is all that really is needed as we have seen, by Enjolras emphasizing sarcasm and laughter, ordinary qualities that are necessary for the revolution.
But Enjolras on the other hand, does not dismiss him, which he was in his rights to do so. He gives him the job, he agrees to try him out and that is what I really love about Enjolras, his capability of giving people chances.
I also love that Enjolras views the entire situation going on, in his head, he is a strategist who can hold the entire barricade in his head later on.
I love that he thinks over his friends’ best qualities as he is walking. I also love how these qualities are well balanced, Combeferre’s shrewd and philosophical eloquence and the cosmopolitan outlook that Feuilly would bring, is balanced by the wit that Courfeyrac has. And these four become leaders of the barricades later on so it is fitting.
Bahorel’s mirth is equally as important as Prouvaire’s melancholy and the melancholy is mentioned in the Romantic sense, where melancholy plays a role in thinking deeply about things, the contemplation, the importance of poetry attached to progress and Hugo’s belief of a very priest/prophet status of the poet which he achieves through melancholy contemplation.
But you need mirth to balance it as well and we were told that Bahorel was always laughing and so he forms the second half of the Romantic duo. I also find it interesting that with Prouvaire the Freemasons Lodge is mentioned because he was linked with a discussion on religions and spirituality, so it makes sense that he would talk to the Freemasons.
I’m not sure why Courfeyrac went to talk to the Polytechnics instead of Combeferre but maybe Petit Picpus needed Combeferre’s philosophy more. Bahorel is sent somewhere near the Latin Quarter, at the Place de l’Estrapada, which has a horrifying history according to Wikipedia. Estrapada was used as a torture device most notably for Protestants in the 16th Century.
Joly and Bossuet are also well matched with erudtion and sarcasm, I love that Enjolras thinks that Bossuet’s main quality is his sarcasm. He probably sasses people into becoming Republicans, but they are both associated with ordinary things, talking to people, making puns and being sarcastic, which is an important thing in the Revolution as well.
And then there’s Grantaire, someone Enjolras is unsure about, how he fits in the roles, but he is still waiting for him to prove himself. He never says, ‘I don’t think Grantaire will be able to do the job’ but rather, ‘let’s see how he is getting along’ and then there is a scene which I think is pure comedy, the door closes on Enjolras’ butt and he does not notice. It makes him more relatable, he is the lofty priest of the ideal, but he is also a nerd thinking deeply about his friends who does not notice the door or who gets into a teasing match with a kid. He’s incredibly relatable in that way and I love that about him, and I love seeing these little moments with him and they make everything much more heart breaking later on. I care deeply about these nerds.
Grantaire still does not have the commitment that the other amis have shown and that goes with what we saw of him when the amis were introduced in 3.4.1. He could be talking to people and inspiring them, yet he is playing a game of dominos and passing his time.
He is still hesitant, he won’t take a stand, he’s still taking refuge in making fun of Enjolras and in games like Dominos, still not believing in Revolutions and so he can’t convince the people of Barrier du Maine and like them spends his time aimlessly. It’s also interesting that Grantaire’s game of Dominos is more based on random luck than any careful planning, contrasted with Enjolras, who was all about careful planning in this chapter. I also really love the juxtaposition of Enjolras looking clearly into the future and his symbolic light association contrasted with the haze that surrounds Grantaire and his opponent.
Grantaire is still not at that point which he will be, as shown in his intention of believing in Enjolras in his dialogue here rather than his actions or his words show.
He probably represents the people of Paris who are still ambivalent about Revolutions but who want to believe and who may not have wanted Louis-Phillippe on the throne after July 1830 but are still okay with him being there for the time being.
Sidenote: I don’t really like the way Donougher has translated this chapter, maybe because I am used to the iconic lines between Enjolras and Grantaire. Donougher loses some of the effect of the lines in translation.
