#Le Cabuc

[nortism]

i know the whole point of this scene is that murder is bad but unfortunately this is the coolest anyone has ever been

[thecandlesticksfromlesmis]

Le Cabuc tried to resist, but he seemed to have been seized by a superhuman hand.

Pale and disheveled, his throat bared, Enjolras, with his womanly face, had at that moment something of ancient Themis about him. His flaring nostrils, his downcast eyes, gave to his implacable Greek profile that expression of wrath and that expression of chastity that for the ancient world are appropriate to justice.

Defeated, Le Cabuc no longer made any attempt to struggle, and trembled in every limb. Enjolras released him and drew out his watch.

“Prepare yourself,” he said. “With prayer or reflection. You have one minute.”

[kim-the-miserable-rat]

LES MIS INCORRECT QUOTES

(PART 8 -some of this are references to things in the brick so im really sorry non brick readers- HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM)

JOLLLLY (to the national guards)

FEUILLY

LE CABUC (to Enjolras before being shot)

COSETTE (I swear that's her in the brick)

BARRICADE BOYS (the 6th of June of 1832)

GRANTAIRE (about Marius)

GAVROCHE

BAHOREL

COMBEFERE

MARIUS (Cosette asks -after the love letter-)

[alicedrawslesmis]

"The tragic picture we have begun would not be complete, [...] if we were to omit in the outline sketched here an incident full of epic and savage horror"

"Enjolras did not take his eyes off his watch; he let the minute pass, then he put his watch back into his fob. This done, he took Le Cabuc, who was writhing against his knees and howling, by the hair, and placed the muzzle of his pistol at his ear. Many of those intrepid men, who had so tranquilly entered upon the most terrible of enterprises, looked away. They heard the explosion".

Les Miserables, 4.12.8: Several Interrogations Points Concerning One Le Cabuc, Who Perhaps Was Not Le Cabuc (FMA transl.)

for @brickrenouveautions

[the-wraxall-illustrations]

[dolphin1812]

The porter’s murder is terrifying and graphic; he couldn’t see what was happening, and Hugo tells us how the bullet passed through him. The barricade now has an element of horror that can’t be forgotten.

I shouldn’t have used the word “terrifying” for Le Cabuc’s act, because Enjolras is terrifying, too. He just forces this man down! And he kills him so calmly! This what “capable of being terrible” really means – he’s caring to his friends and loves the people, but he’s willing to do dark things for his cause, and he’s resolute in doing so (and he even says “terrible” to describe his actions in some translations!).

When Enjolras told Grantaire to leave because he was “dishonoring” the barricade, he was operating the same way he is here. Le Cabuc sullied the barricade’s integrity with murder, so he was executed. But Enjolras condemns himself as executioner, too, because he believes violence is abhorrent (“Death, I make use of thee, but I abhor thee”). His act is just in his eyes, yes, but it’s just in an “old” order that yields to “necessity.” He wants none of that to exist! And so he thinks he must die, too, because now he is tainted by the violence of the old world. His speech is moving, but it’s tragic. The hopeful side is one he excludes himself from entirely. 

Combeferre is the first to say he’ll join him, which is moving for two reasons. One (and most generally), it’s a sign of how much they care about each other. Enjolras hadn’t said what his fate would be, but Combeferre offers to share it immediately, regardless of how bad it is! Secondly, Enjolras’ view of justice here has likely been influenced by Combeferre: “the good must be innocent,” and Enjolras can’t see himself as “innocent” after what he did. Therefore, he is no longer “good,” and cannot see himself in that perfect world. And Combeferre isn’t the only influence! He says “the human race,” not “France,” suggesting that Feuilly’s broader perspective may have gotten to him. But Combeferre’s influence is the one that condemns him.

This may sound like a critique of Combeferre (that sort of life-long punishment wasn’t his intention – it resembles the prison system), but it’s also important to keep in mind that while these are beloved characters to us, they’re also symbols. To those who despised protests for being messy and violent, what could be more appealing than someone who rejects that aspect so entirely that he disciplines the barricade and condemns himself for what he’s done? It’s difficult to say the barricade is full of “troublemakers” in the face of Enjolras’ principles, and it encourages those who simply want peace to sympathize with him (a revolutionary) most of all. 

And Le Cabuc was probably Claquesous! It would make sense with how he was a stranger to those who supposedly knew him, maintaining his air of mystery. And it means there really were a lot of police spies, with two known (possible) ones at just one barricade! Claquesous’ violence may have even been intentional if he was there as a spy, trying to turn the people against the barricade by making it needlessly violent.

[bishopmyrielfundraiser]

Offer #16: 1 set of Enjolras-themed prints and keychain by @syrupsyche / @erosyrup

Hi! I'm offering a package of Enjolras-themed items:

The package consists of:

a roughly A4 print of Enjolras and the Notre Dame

A5 print of Enjolras's Le Cabuc scene

14x14cm print of Enjolras' portrait sketch by Grantaire

roughly 5cm sized Enjolras keychain

Bidding starts at $15!

The rules for bidding are here!

[oilan]

“On your knees!’

The murderer turned and saw before him the cold, white face of Enjolras. Enjolras held a pistol in his hand.

He had come at the sound of the gunfire. With his left hand he grabbed Le Cabuc by his collar, overall, shirt and braces.

‘On your knees!’ he repeated.

And with sovereign command, the slight young man of twenty bent the sturdy, thickset housebreaker like a reed and brought him to his knees in the mud. Le Cabuc tried to resist, but he seemed to have been seized by a superhuman hand.

Pale and dishevelled, his throat bared, Enjolras, with his womanly face, had at that moment something of ancient Themis about him. His flaring nostrils, his downcast eyes, gave to his implacable Greek profile that expression of wrath and that expression of chastity that for the ancient world are appropriate to justice.

Everyone from the barricade had come running, then they had all drawn up in a circle, at a distance, feeling there was nothing they could say about what they were going to see.

Defeated, Le Cabuc no longer made any attempt to struggle, and trembled in every limb. Enjolras released him and drew out his watch.

‘Prepare yourself,’ he said. ‘With prayer or reflection. You have one minute.”

For Barricade Day 2023

[resnovae-3]

Someone really needs to make an animatic about Enjolras killing Le Cabuc with the music of Just a Man from Epic: the musical. The lines fit just sooooo good

But when does a comet become a meteor

When does a candle become a blaze?

When does a man become a monster?

When does a ripple become a tidal wave?

When does the reason become the blame

When does a man become a monster?

It just... fits the scene and the character so well

[cliozaur]

While Javert is bound to the post and waiting for the final minutes before the barricade is taken, outside the inn, a provocateur is executed without delay. This difference in attitude towards different types of spying is quite telling.

Le Cabuc joined the group, being already quite drunk (or more likely, pretending to be drunk). This was the first attempt to disrupt the discipline of the rebels. His suggestion to occupy the upper stories of the dominating building was not a bad one (I wonder if there was some evil plot behind it in case the house was accessible to them). And then he brutally murdered a poor porter (that’s the provocateurs’ tactics of creating disorder and undermining the group’s discipline).

Everything is happening all at once. First, Javert, then Le Cabuc. That’s a lot of decisions and actions for Enjolras. He is likened to an eagle here. And we learn that Enjolras, with “his woman’s face,” is enormously strong, like a “superhuman.” This situation with Le Cabus is completely different from that involving Javert (who hadn’t done any harm yet) and it demands different handling. They don’t yet know that this man is a police agent, but he had already caused irreparable harm. That is why this time Enjolras is not preserving precious bullets. As a leader, he must act as “a judge, not an assassin” (as he declared in the previous chapter). And this act of violence aligns surprisingly well with Hugo’s anti-violence (and anti-death penalty) stance. It’s violence out of necessity (very Revolutionary declaration), and for this act, Enjolras has already condemned himself, declaring that in the future, there’ll be no deaths and no killings.

Le Cabuc turns out to be a police agent. And someone (was it Javert?) even wrote a “special report on this subject.” We are left with an assumption that he was none other than Claquesous. This realization hit me—it’s the last time we hear about someone from Patron-Minette in the Brick. I will miss them.

By night, “the small young man,” aka Éponine, returns to the barricade. And this is the last time we see her undamaged. Noooo. Not so soon!

[thepiecesofcait]

My brain has been stuck on the concept of Enjolras with blood on his hands, so here's an Enjolras with blood on his hands.

[ueinra]

The whole barricade hastened up, then all ranged themselves in a circle at a distance, feeling that it was impossible to utter a word in the presence of the thing which they were about to behold.

Le Cabuc, vanquished, no longer tried to struggle, and trembled in every limb.

Enjolras released him and drew out his watch. ‘Collect yourself,’ said he. ‘Think or pray. You have one minute.’

‘Mercy!’ murmured the murderer; then he dropped his head and stammered a few inarticulate oaths.

— Les Misérables, IV.XII.VIII Illustrated by Carlo Chiostri (Italian Edition, 1930)

[a-heart-full-of-dumb]

Okay I'm sure people already know about this les mis edition, but

It's so small omg

I didn't have a lot of time to go to the entire thing to see what was and wasn't included, but they just skip over all the deaths of the amis 😂😭

Yes, including Enjolras's and Grantaire's.

"The revolutionaries fought with savage might, but they could do nothing. They were all killed, Enjolras the last. Then silence. The barricade was taken."

It's done so dryly too haha

Couldn't buy is cause my parents wanted to go, but I the temptation to just run back and grab it was bad ngl.

[grotius]

having a very normal night consisting of staying up and then listening to the dyhtps part of the epilogue at 5am

[rosemary-rothlorein]

-1-

Enjolras: *first introduced to the readers, young and beautiful*

Victor Hugo: And he is a virgin.

-2-

Enjolras: *executes Le Cabuc and delivers a grand speech, from how violence is inevitable but necessity is not justification, the purpose of violence is to bring an end to itself, to how the logic of law (fatality) is fundamentally flawed, and how to fix that and what to expect in the future*

Victor Hugo: And by the way, Enjolras is a virgin.

-3-

Students: *stay at the barricade in the middle of a revolution*

No one:

Bossuet: Do you know Enjolras is a virgin?

-4-

Enjolras: *kisses Mabeuf’s hand*

Victor Hugo: And if anyone cares, Enjolras is a virgin.

-5-

Enjolras: *dies heroically*

Victor Hugo: He is a vi- oh this time he is Christ.

[marbleluvrofliberty]

love that illustration of enjolras standing over le cabuc with his stopwatch out. shoot his ass king!