Les Misérables, Book 10: June 5, 1832, Chapter 2 summary
Book 10: June 5, 1832, Chapter 2 of 365 · 10 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 2, the narrator distinguishes insurrection serving justice and progress from revolt that obstructs them, while examining how writers resist tyranny. He applies these distinctions to the movement of June 1832, calling its outward form revolt but its substance insurrection, and asserts personal knowledge of the events.
What happens
- The narrator judges collective violence by whether it advances justice or attacks the rights of the whole.
- Historical examples show that crowds can oppose progress and betray their own cause.
- The discussion turns to writers whose forceful language challenges tyranny, especially Tacitus and Juvenal.
- The narrator distinguishes moral insurrection from material riot, while recognizing that hunger can produce legitimate grievances.
- Universal suffrage appears as a peaceful means of expressing demands, unlike the bourgeois habit of condemning every disturbance.
- The narrator identifies insurrection beneath the form of the June 1832 revolt and claims eyewitness knowledge of its events.
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Quick check
Why does the narrator still classify the disturbance at Buzançais as a riot?
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