Les Misérables · Chapter
II: The Root of the Matter explained
This chapter distinguishes between uprising and insurrection, framing insurrection as a moral and forward-moving protest of right, while revolt is a material, often misguided, backward movement.
What happens
This chapter distinguishes between uprising and insurrection, framing insurrection as a moral and forward-moving protest of right, while revolt is a material, often misguided, backward movement. It discusses the role of universal suffrage, historical examples, and the legitimacy of popular resistance, concluding with a reflection on the 1832 movement and the historian's duty to reveal hidden details.
Themes in this chapter
Revolution and Social Upheaval
The chapter explores the moral and philosophical distinctions between uprising, insurrection, and revolt, framing them as expressions of collective sovereignty and progress.
Justice vs. Law
It argues that insurrection is a legitimate protest of right against violated justice, while revolt is often a material and misguided challenge to lawful order.
The Human Condition and Fate
The text reflects on the inevitability of conflict and the moral dimensions of popular movements, suggesting a destined progression toward peace through universal suffrage.
Key passages
“There is such a thing as an uprising, and there is such a thing as insurrection; these are two separate phases of wrath; one is in the wrong, the other is in the right.”
Uprisings and insurrections are distinct forms of anger: one is unjust, the other just.
This sets up the chapter's central moral distinction between legitimate and illegitimate popular violence.
“Insurrection is a fit of rage on the part of truth; the pavements which the uprising disturbs give forth the spark of right.”
Insurrection is truth's anger, and the stones it throws up carry the spark of justice.
This metaphor emphasizes the righteous, truth-driven nature of insurrection compared to mere revolt.
“The solution of everything by universal suffrage being an absolutely modern fact, and all history anterior to this fact being, for the space of four thousand years, filled with violated right, and the suffering of peoples, each epoch of history brings with it that protest of which it is capable.”
Universal suffrage is a modern solution; before it, history was full of violated rights and suffering, with each era producing its own form of protest.
This frames universal suffrage as a peaceful resolution to historical injustices, contrasting with violent uprisings.