Les Misérables · Chapter
Waiting explained
During the lull before the final confrontation, the revolutionaries prepare ammunition and lint while Enjolras keeps watch.
What happens
During the lull before the final confrontation, the revolutionaries prepare ammunition and lint while Enjolras keeps watch. In a poignant moment, Jean Prouvaire recites nostalgic love verses, recalling youthful romance and lost innocence, as the group waits in the dimly lit barricade, their red flag eerily illuminated by a torch.
Themes in this chapter
Revolution and Social Upheaval
The chapter depicts the calm before the storm, with revolutionaries preparing for battle while clinging to memories of love and youth.
The Human Condition and Fate
The juxtaposition of tender reminiscence and imminent death highlights the fragility and poignancy of human existence.
Characters to notice
- Enjolras
Keeps watch on the sentinels, unable to be diverted from his duty.
- Combeferre
Among the group of friends reciting verses and preparing for the battle.
- Courfeyrac
Joins the others in the wine-shop corner, sharing memories and verses.
- Jean Prouvaire
Recites love verses from his youth, adding a poignant, poetic tone to the waiting.
- Feuilly
Among the friends gathered in the wine-shop, preparing for the coming fight.
Key passages
“Vous rappelez-vous notre douce vie, Lorsque nous étions si jeunes tous deux, Et que nous n’avions au coeur d’autre envie Que d’être bien mis et d’être amoureux...”
Do you remember our sweet life when we were both so young, with no desire but to dress well and be in love?
Jean Prouvaire recites nostalgic love verses, contrasting the innocence of youth with the grim reality of the barricade.
“The torch had been placed in a sort of cage of paving-stones closed on three sides to shelter it from the wind, and disposed in such a fashion that all the light fell on the flag.”
The torch was set in a stone enclosure that shielded it from the wind, directing all its light onto the red flag.
The deliberate illumination of the flag symbolizes the revolutionaries' defiant focus on their cause.