The Absolute at Large · Chapter
XXIV: The Napoleon of the Mountain Brigade explained
Lieutenant Toni Bobinet, a young mountain artillery officer, reads a newspaper calling for a strong leader, then stages a coup, destroys Karburators, rises to First Consul and later Emperor of the French, imposing state atheism and launchin
What happens
Lieutenant Toni Bobinet, a young mountain artillery officer, reads a newspaper calling for a strong leader, then stages a coup, destroys Karburators, rises to First Consul and later Emperor of the French, imposing state atheism and launching a global military campaign.
Themes in this chapter
Technology and Religion
Bobinet's campaign targets Karburators (atomic motors) as symbols of the Absolute, blending technological destruction with anti-religious state policy.
The Absurdity of Absolutes
Bobinet's rise and the fanatical reactions of both believers and skeptics highlight the absurdity of absolute ideologies.
Industrial Capitalism and Labor
The destruction of Karburators represents a rejection of industrial capitalism's core technology, though the chapter focuses more on military and political upheaval.
Characters to notice
- Toni Bobinet
The young lieutenant who becomes First Consul and Emperor, leading a campaign against the Absolute and Karburators.
- G. H. Bondy
Not directly present; referenced indirectly as part of the broader narrative context.
- Rudy Marek
Not directly present; the Karburator is a key element in Bobinet's campaign.
Key passages
“Bobinet, if you please, Toni Bobinet, the twenty-two-year-old lieutenant of mountain artillery, attached to the garrison of Annecy (Haute Savoie), but at present on six weeks’ manoeuvres on the Needles (Les Aiguilles)...”
Introducing Toni Bobinet, a 22-year-old lieutenant on maneuvers in the Alps.
Sets the scene for Bobinet's pivotal moment of inspiration.
“He was proclaimed commandant of Grenoble, and now had a small army of forty thousand men at his back, with which he descended into the valley of the Rhône and busied himself in painstakingly clearing the surrounding territory of all atomic motors by means of his long-range guns.”
Bobinet's army grew to 40,000 men as he systematically destroyed atomic motors across the Rhône valley.
Highlights the scale of Bobinet's anti-Karburator campaign.
“Bobinet introduced State atheism; any sort of religious demonstration was punishable by court-martial with death.”
Bobinet made atheism the official state policy, with religious acts punishable by death.
Illustrates the extreme secularism imposed by Bobinet's regime.