# When We Were Very Young explained — Armed with Madness

> Chapter companion for Armed with Madness by Mary Butts.

## What happens

Felix, drunk in a taxi with an American friend and a Russian named Boris, experiences a moment of clarity and purpose. He decides that Boris is the companion he has been seeking, and he resolves to take him back to Russia. The chapter captures a bohemian, reckless night in Paris, blending intoxication, desire, and a sense of destiny.

## Themes in this chapter

### Sexuality and Desire

Felix's intense, romantic attraction to Boris is portrayed as a driving, almost fated desire, set against a backdrop of drunken revelry.

### Art, Creativity, and Perception

The chapter's vivid, impressionistic language and Felix's starry-eyed perception of Paris and Boris evoke a creative, almost artistic vision of life.

## Character check-ins

### Felix Taverner

Drunk and euphoric in a Paris taxi, Felix decides that Boris is the companion he came to find, feeling a romantic and purposeful connection.

### Boris

A Russian exile, young and wicked, who is amused and indifferent as Felix becomes infatuated with him.

## Key lines

> And Felix knew that he had found what he had come for, this slip out of Russia, a burning black pillar of congenial romance.

Felix realized that Boris was exactly the person he had been seeking—a romantic figure from Russia, intense and kindred.

_Felix's moment of recognition and purpose._

> Like a bow bent and relaxed, and strung with fresh arrows, his desires took purpose.

His desires became focused and directed, like a bow that is drawn and then released with new arrows.

_Metaphor for Felix's newfound clarity and intention._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/armed_with_madness_se/chapters/when-we-were-very-young
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/armed_with_madness_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/armed_with_madness_se/chapters