# XII: Disorder a Partisan of Order explained — Les Misérables

> Chapter companion for Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

## What happens

Captain Fannicot, a zealous National Guard commander, launches a premature and reckless attack on the barricade, leading to heavy casualties among his own men. Enjolras criticizes the foolishness of the assault, which wastes ammunition and lives. The chapter reflects on the chaotic nature of the 1832 insurrection, where individual acts of bravery and fanaticism mix with governmental disorder, and notes the tragic fate of poet Jean Prouvaire, killed by summary Lynch law.

## Themes in this chapter

### Revolution and Social Upheaval

The chapter depicts the chaotic and violent clash between insurgents and the forces of order during the 1832 uprising.

### Justice vs. Law

The summary execution of Jean Prouvaire and the arbitrary violence by National Guards illustrate the tension between personal justice and legal order.

## Character check-ins

### Enjolras

Leads the insurgents at the barricade; criticizes Fannicot's attack as foolish and wasteful.

### Bossuet

Makes a muttered remark to Combeferre about Fannicot not answering his question.

### Combeferre

Responds to Bossuet, describing Fannicot as 'a man who does good by gunshots.'

### Jean Prouvaire

Mentioned as the poet who was shot by Fannicot's company earlier.

## Key lines

> He commanded men as resolute as himself, “raging fellows,” as a witness said. His company, the same which had shot Jean Prouvaire the poet, was the first of the battalion posted at the angle of the street.

Captain Fannicot led a company of fierce National Guards, the same unit that had earlier killed the poet Jean Prouvaire, and positioned them at the street corner.

_Highlights Fannicot's aggressive command and the company's prior involvement in Prouvaire's death._

> “The fools!” said he. “They are getting their own men killed and they are using up our ammunition for nothing.”

Enjolras called the attackers fools for wasting their own lives and the insurgents' ammunition.

_Shows Enjolras's strategic mindset and disdain for reckless assaults._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se/chapters/xii-disorder-a-partisan-of-order
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se/chapters