Summary of chapters 4.12.4-4.13.2:

Mother Hucheloup continues to be upset about her shop and the state of things. Working-men and others arrive with ammunition for the barricade; everything is being directed by Enjolras, Combeferre, and Courfeyrac. There are now also two barricades, with about 50 people from all backgrounds. Gavroche “seemed to be there for the encouragement of all” and hurries around cheerily doing whatever task is needed. The main barricade is about six or seven feet high, effective in blocking the roads, and was constructed in about an hour. Courfeyrac and Enjolras distribute ammunition cartridges equally among those with guns, and they all load their muskets together, then assign sentinels to watch various posts of importance. While they wait for attack, they prepare more bullets and light torches, all while singing love songs. The group continues to wait as night approaches, and nothing happens. These 50 men are awaiting some 60,000, and they being to get impatient. One man (from the Rue des Billettes) passes Gavroche, and Gavroche watches him intently—the man has been apparently studying the whole barricade and its occupants. Enjolras tasks Gavroche with going outside the barricade to see if anything is happening, and Gavroche tells Enjolras he thinks the strange man is a spy, recognizing him from a previous interaction. Enjolras takes four strong men with him to confront the man, and they learn his name: Javert. They learn he is an inspector of police, take his possessions, and see he was given the job of learning about the barricades there. They tell Javert they will shoot him later. Gavroche goes out of the barricade as he was told. Hugo gives a look at “an incident full of epic and savage horror” that happened soon after Gavroche left the barricade. There is one man who joined called Le Cabuc, who is a drunkard. This man calls attention to a certain house, saying it is the best vantage point from which to shoot, although others point out it is locked up. He starts to beat down the door and when the porter calls down from above to ask what he wants, Le Cabuc demands he open the door, and when refused, shoots the man. Enjolras forces Le Cabuc to his knees for this savage act, gives Le Cabuc one minute to think, then shoots him in the head. Enjolras gives a speech about not tolerating insurrection in the barricades, and about how they are fated to deliver society out of the oppression and darkness it now faces. Le Cabuc, Hugo reveals, was the bandit Claquesous. The young man (who had asked for Marius and left the barricade some time before) returns to the group. Marius, meanwhile, is “mad with grief” feeling lost after learning Cosette is going to leave. He has Javert’s pistols still, and sets off from the Rue Plumet. He feels himself called to the barricades and passes through the troops and others clogging the streets and goes forward. The streets of Paris, Hugo tells us, are wholly dark and seemingly lifeless. There is utter determination on both sides—“all must be decided on the morrow, the triumph must be on this side or on that, the insurrection must be a revolution or a blunder.”

Questions for 4.13.2:

1. What do you think about Hugo's depiction of Paris as completely dark on the night before this great battle?
2. Did you have a favorite line or passage from this chapter? If so, what made it stand out to you?
3. Were there any instances of figurative language you thought added to the narrative of this chapter?
4. Do you have any other comments or questions about this chapter?

Final line:

A fearful and sacred voice [...] like the voice of the thunder.

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