Les Misérables, Book 11: The Atom Joins the Hurricane, Chapter 3 summary
Book 11: The Atom Joins the Hurricane, Chapter 3 of 365 · 3 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 3, a hairdresser praises battlefield death while shaving an old soldier, but panics when a stone breaks his window. Gavroche throws it because he remembers the barber’s treatment of two boys, exposing the gap between the barber’s brave words and his response to danger.
What happens
- While shaving a veteran, the hairdresser moves from discussing the riot to asking about the Emperor.
- The soldier describes the Emperor’s horse and recalls the Emperor’s wound at Ratisbon.
- The veteran lists his own many wounds, and the barber declares that he prefers a battlefield death to illness.
- The window shatters, and the frightened barber mistakes the incoming stone for a cannonball.
- The soldier identifies a pebble, while the barber sees Gavroche fleeing and complains that the boy causes trouble without reason.
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In this chapter
What to notice
The barber treats the attack as unprovoked. His question contrasts with Gavroche’s stated concern for the boys whom the barber drives away.
Quick check
What does the soldier pick up after the shop window breaks?
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