Les Misérables, Book 9: Where Are They Going?, Chapter 2 summary

What happens

1. Marius leaves M. Gillenormand in despair, but the mention of Cousin Théodule does not make him suspect Cosette.
2. After wandering and sleeping, Marius hears Courfeyrac invite him to General Lamarque’s funeral but scarcely understands him.
3. He takes loaded pistols and spends the day wandering, focused only on seeing Cosette at nine.
4. At Rue Plumet, he searches the deserted garden, knocks on closed shutters, and calls for Cosette without receiving an answer.
5. Marius sits on the steps and decides that, without Cosette, nothing remains for him but death.
6. A voice resembling Éponine’s summons him to his friends’ barricade; he glimpses someone resembling a young man running away.

In this chapter

What to notice

The appointment becomes Marius’s sole remaining hope. Finding the house empty therefore brings his despair to a crisis.

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