*staggers in 15 hours late with new but not currently relevant ideas of how Marius works in the narrative*
I LOVE THIS CHAPTER THOUGH I LOVE THIS CHAPTER A LOT
Even if Hugo and I have some seriously differing ideas about where some of these philosophers belong BUT THAT IS OKAY
(I mean in terms of the larger theme of the chapter I am still v.v. upset with Hugo Because Philosophies I maintain that right)
I don't think Hugo is implying that these levels of miners are chronologically stacked, but rather that they move further and further towards- well, what to call it? The darkest parts of society? The darker impulses of humanity? And I don't think that means that the deeper miners are necessarily made of darker stuff, but that they're digging deeper into the base of society- more subversive or more challenging, maybe. The miners go to and fro, up AND down, all of them-- and I think that's a lovely analogy for the way new waves of thought help people reinterpret old philosophers.
While I doubt very much the metaphor was meant to extend in this direction, the business of the social mines makes me think of earthworms--they burrow unseen, aerating and improving the soil, and even if a gardener never sees the earthworms, the garden profits. A garden without its burrowers keeping the substrata lively becomes compacted and unworkable.
Specific references I see have already been tracked down by other club members, so I'll just pause a moment to squee about Diogenes being here, and cackle over Fourier and Saint-Simon being in "side galleries"-- when I get back to Liveblogging the Borel Bio IT WILL BE CLEAR WHY--and discuss those in replies.
Instead I'll talk about how much I love it when the musical sets up Stars right before Look Down*, AND THIS CHAPTER IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY, and point to, again, the gamin back in Parvulus* tearing up the streets to study what's underneath. The gamin are a dangerous force, a reflection of the failures of their society-- a perfect social order would have no roaming homeless children-- but they're a POWER, because they study, unsettle, criticize-- and like the miners here, they are largely unseen, invisible even while they're everywhere.
And I'll say that I really love how reformers and philosophers and revolutionaries and such "star- eyed" thinkers are bundled with criminals as the miners, the underminers, of society. Because, after all, a lot of revolutionary thinkers have gone through their period of being outlaws (and wow, do I think Hugo was grouping himself in that bunch? Do I, heck. I would be ASTONISHED to hear he wasn't.)-- but also because the sort of criminal society often called "the underworld" has its philosophies and codes and cultural influences too. No way I'm up to analyzing all that here tonight! But to look at socially despised groups and say "No, that's not inherent or even irrational, that's a set of learned and considered behaviors, these are people with reason WITH THEIR OWN REASONS"-- that's still not always an accepted line of thought. After an entire section of increasingly uncomfortable relationship wackiness, this chapter reminds me why I love this stupid book so much.
*the movie is NOT the first version to do this, darn it- I have a soundtrack from the 80s where the lineup's the same way. When did it change? It's such a nice little juxtaposition...
**and Bahorel, of course, but if I talk about Bahorel and gamin in the same post I'm gonna cry and I have so much catching up to do.
