# II: En Route explained — The Enormous Room

> Chapter companion for The Enormous Room by E. E. Cummings.

## What happens

The narrator is transported by train to prison, accompanied by gendarmes and a fellow prisoner—a Belgian 'deserter' who shares his wine and sausage. The narrator draws caricatures of the guards to distract them. Upon arrival at a prison yard, he encounters a chaotic scene of desperate prisoners behind bars, including a charismatic figure he calls the 'angel-monkey' who asks for cigarettes. He is then led to his cell.

## Themes in this chapter

### Freedom vs. Imprisonment

The narrator is physically transported to prison, yet finds moments of human connection and defiance through art and shared wine.

### Bureaucratic Absurdity

The Belgian is labeled a deserter for overstaying leave by one day, highlighting the arbitrary nature of military rules.

### Human Dignity and Community

Despite being prisoners, the Belgian shares food and wine, and the narrator gives cigarettes to the desperate men behind bars, showing solidarity.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The narrator is the central figure, traveling under guard, drawing caricatures, and interacting with fellow prisoners and gendarmes.

### B.

B. is not present in this chapter; the narrator travels alone with gendarmes and other prisoners.

### The Belgian

A Belgian prisoner who shares wine and sausage with the narrator on the train; he is a 'deserter' who overstayed his leave.

### Jack

The 'angel-monkey' prisoner who calls out for cigarettes from behind bars; he distributes them to others.

### The French

The gendarmes and guards who escort the narrator and oversee the prison.

## Key lines

> He smiled as he told me he was getting ten years. Three years at solitary confinement was it, and seven working in a gang on the road? That would not be so bad. He wished he was not married, had not a little child. 'The bachelors are lucky in this war'—he smiled.

The Belgian prisoner calmly describes his ten-year sentence, noting that solitary confinement and hard labor are bearable, but he regrets leaving a wife and child behind.

_Reveals the prisoner's stoic acceptance and the personal cost of war._

> I would save the blanket-cover by drawing these brigands' attention to myself. At the same time I would satisfy my inborn taste for the ridiculous. 'Have you a pencil?' I said. 'Because I am an artist in my own country, and will do your picture.'

The narrator distracts the gendarmes by offering to draw their portraits, using art as a means of protection and amusement.

_Shows the narrator's resourcefulness and use of art as resistance._

> Trillions of hands. Quadrillions of itching fingers. The angel-monkey received the package of cigarettes politely, disappearing with it into howling darkness. I heard his high boy's voice distributing cigarettes.

The narrator describes the chaotic scene of prisoners reaching through bars, and the 'angel-monkey' who takes the cigarettes and shares them with others.

_Highlights the dehumanizing conditions and the small acts of generosity among prisoners._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_enormous_room_se/chapters/ii-en-route
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_enormous_room_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_enormous_room_se/chapters