Enjolras of Les Miserables

[justanotheridealist]

My dear writer,

You have been portraying me for over a year now. Your voice is solid for me, and yet you hide behind a friendslock. Let us be frank with one another now. No use in lingering about with frivolous compliments that we both know aren't needed. I shall describe this in blunt points.

1) The book is not only thick, but filled with very small print. In this day and age, reading is unfortunately considered unfashionable. Not very many people have braved its pages. We must set the example and bring what you've learned from the book into the foray. People need not know of our existence, but they ought to hear our message.

2) Today's politics are just as important as yeterday's. You must garner each view from the spectrum. I know you are quick to anger at social injustice, but every point must be listened to and understood if you are to counter them. You must comprehend the opposition if you're to hold a debate. I may despise the views of the Ultras, but I try to understand them. Which leads into point three.

3) Invite others into these discussions. I am not here to hide who I am. I am not one to be contained. Our views must be shared with the world, especially when it's delivered in a country that thrives on the right to free speech. You have such a right. Employ it!

Let us not fear those of opposing viewpoints. Let us welcome them with civil discourse. I long to find the rest of my friends. I cannot do that under lock and key.

In any case, I'm glad to see that you've included Grantaire under said lock. The man has potential and no matter what, he deserves to be a part of this foray. Just as he should unlock his abilities, so should you unlock me of mine. Have faith in the people. They will do what is right.

Comments

[roseoftheunderworld]

Still, it is a shame that we are so often portrayed differently in things that are easier to read or see than the book.

I am quite tired of certain things my mundane and I have seen.

[Eppieboppers. Eppieboppers everywhere.]

[justanotheridealist]

Granted, our characterization may differ broadly throughout each and every adaptation. That is a blessing in a way, however. Our message must survive throughout the ages. Despite revolution being a four-letter word in a few countries, despite equality being dismissed so easily by certain governmental factions, our message will forever resonate with the people.

So long as mankind is in chains, that's where we'll be. So long as there is oppression, that's where we'll be. So long as there are those who seek to better their lives, to conquer their reality of being in the gutter, to succeed where so many have fallen, that is where we must be.

I would rather have myself be tarnished than have my message be trodden through the dirt. The man does not matter, only the idea. You cannot butcher an idea so easily as you could a character.

On that note, you were the girl who aided Marius, were you not? Thank you for your bravery in such a time of need.

[roseoftheunderworld]

Ideas can be butchered though, monsieur, particularly when some are unable to focus on it. I am told that this occurs at times with our story. But, of course, it cannot always happen, yes?

In a way, yes. It is...somewhat complicated.

[justanotheridealist]

Your point is granted. You must be quite well-versed within differing cultures to spot the differences. Still, there is a reason why our story is so often told. We will go around the world again and again. We remain because the majority of the people see into our tales what the naysayers may not.

For each horrendous excursion into an improper adaptation, I am reminded of the three glorious days of 1830. There we stood upon our barricades, primed and ready. Willing to lay down our lives for our cause, and we achieved it. The soul-crushing blow of a stolen revolution was our reward.

Yet we recovered. We did not allow ourselves to keep our heads bowed in submission. It is not in human nature to simply roll over and die. It is in our nature to fight back. To take our freedoms forcibly if they are not granted to us from birth. It is our right and it is our civil duty. So we get back up.

Each time we are knocked down, we rise again. There are many adaptations. There will be many more to come. Life imitates art and vice versa.

A noble task is never complicated. There is right and there is wrong.

[Enjolras can be a little wordy at times, but he is quite genuine. His attention stays upon Eponine throughout his speech, granting her the attention he believes she deserves. It's not often that he's asked his opinion on matters not revolving around the Republic or revolution, but it's customary for his thoughts to come right back to his main topics.]

[roseoftheunderworld]

Not so much myself, but I have been informed by certain others.

[Eponine is perhaps not so wordy, but there is something about his words that differs from any other she's heard talking about this subject. Which is why she listens at all.]

Right and wrong can be confused, monsieur. It is wrong to lead a man to his death, is it not? And it is right to die so that he may live.

[Or so that he can live longer, but who needs to add that little detail.]

[petitgamin]

Pretty Face. [He feels this is greeting enough]

[justanotheridealist]

Gamin. [Though the presence of Gavroche is enough to cause him a very quick smile.]

Finally found a gun for yourself?

[petitgamin]

Course I did. Took it right from under yer nose.

[justanotheridealist]

[He raises an eyebrow.]

The mouchard's own, I'm sure. Truly, there was no better place for it. Use it well and use it wisely.

[petitgamin]

'Course I will. [Shift] Here, the mun says ... what is it? [frown] Summat about neutral party being the hardest to keep. Whatever that means

[impossible_r]

Can it be? Do my ears deceive me? Is it possible that our Fearless Leader has said something kind? I think I hear a choir of angels singing! The gates of heaven have opened and are shining a glorious beam of light on my head. Truly, this is a sign there are still gods in heaven and wishes can be granted. Or perhaps it is only Morpheus having his little laugh as he so often does.

Either way, I am content to live in this dream a little more.

[justanotheridealist]

Do I not often speak kindly to my friends? You do not believe, Grantaire, but you are loyal enough. You are drunk, yet you do not run to the gendarmes. You are faithful to us, but not useful. I would not press you so if I didn't believe that you had a great deal of potential that you allow to rest dormant.

There are times when I do not understand you. You are a walking contradiction in that you can believe in me and yet shun all that I believe in and value. All except for one matter, that of friendship. We have our common ground.

[je_suis_avec_toi]

More of that?

A world reborn from blood and fire. [She had visions of the French Revolution, not your rebellion, but the rhetoric was largely the same.]

From what I've seen, it didn't ever work. Even I had some hope when the Psalms passed on.

[justanotheridealist]

Forgive me, but I'm afraid you'll need to be a little more specific. More of what?

I know not a world reborn from blood and fire. I know of worlds that are reborn through ideas. Revolutions tend to come with them from every angle. You have your industrial revolution that shapes economies. You have your cultural revolution which shapes human civilization, entertainment, and appearances. You have your political revolutions which shapes governments. To say that what I speak of is a mere descendant or transgression upon blood and fire is to equate it to a vast generalization that is not only harmful to the ideas, but to the dreamers who visualize a world where all are equal.

I would revolt peacefully were there a potential of getting anywhere. Alas, within monarchies all revolts are deemed a hostility. Those who speak out in the streets, be they struggling for peace or promoting harsher means are treated the same. All are guilty. The bourgeois are able to escape the stricter forms of treatment if they pay enough or have parents who can speak for them. Plenty of others are destroyed underfoot.

You speak of what you have seen. This begs the question of your time. I do not ask your age, however, but I have seen countries rebuilding anew. For instance, the United States held themselves a rather successful revolution. In 2380 BC, a revolt in Langash ousted a king. Or, perhaps, we may converse on the Athenian revolution that brought in democracy? There is also the Jewish revolt against that Seleucid Empire. They managed to take their independence.

If you wish to go further, there was the Hōgen Rebellion in 1156 that eventually led to the first samurai-led government in Japan. There was also the English Revolution that led to the establishment of the Republican commonwealth.

I can go on, but I don't believe you are interested in such matters. Yes, there are revolutions and rebellions that failed, but the majority of revolutions occurred on modern principles, that people ought to be free to govern themselves. If the people are not free, then what means do they have at their disposal to make their voices clear?

A slave cannot protest his treatment. A slave's life is to do and then die. A slave could argue his case. A slave could throw himself upon the mercy of his master. Or a slave can rise up, and as well they should. For by removing the ability to peacefully rebel, you are left with no other option than to violently rebel. And rebel they should as no man deserves to be owned by another.

While the glorious French Revolution made their fair share of mistakes, I do not think for one moment that you would believe the Haitian Revolution that we aided was in the wrong.

So I ask this of you since we seem to be in the midst of many people with varying opinions. Is there still a monarchy within France? Within your own world, are people free to say as they like? May they ask questions of their government? Does their government serve them and not the other way around? Do your people starve in the gutters? How is the healthcare within your land? Are there outbreaks? Are people treated civilly when they're in need of treatment?

To focus solely on the violence is to ignore not only the reasons and causes that spurred those actions, but also to ignore the aftermath. The man who fights the hardest is the one who wants peace the most.

[je_suis_avec_toi]

[She listens carefully, guarding her expression.]

There was yet a monarchy in France when I was killed. From here I know what my brother would learn in his lifetime, and there is far too much blood shed while the people try to get their revolution.

I had a vision of society completely overturned, and yet there was a sense of hope. I'm just not convinced the prize is worth the cost. Maximilien and Robin contrived to take any means of influencing events from my hands.

Rule of the people makes a strange sense, but I cannot see it in my heart. [The woman is a royal bastard, after all.]

[justanotheridealist]

The French Revolution had its own share of difficulties. They received little foreign aid and feared intruders from within as well as the outside forces that did insist on attacking the country while they were still trying to maintain the new government.

I make no excuses for them, but I do insist that the proper research be done before passing judgment on the people involved, the decisions they made, and the fact that the number of bodies has been grossly exaggerated. History is written by the winners, and in this day and age, people are more inclined to demonize the French Revolution rather than teach the facts. As such, much information gets tossed about haphazardly.

Naturally, if a person has sympathies with the royal family or is, in fact, a royalist, a monarchist, an Ultra, or even a Bonapartist, they are far less inclined to look upon other methods of maintaining a government.

Revolutions have been won with less bloodshed. They have been won with more. But one can't say that they don't change anything. History is a constantly changing mass because people are continually changing. Revolution is taken only when people have evolved to the point of pushing against the chains of society.

For my time, the people had a revolution without as much bloodshed in 1830. The people wanted a Republic. For a time, it looked as though we were granted one, but then it was stolen when Louis-Philippe was chosen to be the king by a man who should have been with the people. He was ordained and the people suffered. Most were led into thinking that this new king would support all the citizens, but there is no true Republic with a king in place.

Why, then, must there be kings in your view? Why must there be a monarchy? What gives someone the right to rule over the people?

[je_suis_avec_toi]

It was a mandate from God. I think it was lost during my lifetime, but I saw my home, my beloved France, in ruins. Overturn the top if you must, but don't bathe in the blood of those who love your country as much as you do.

[hiscynic]

And so we emerge from underneath the lock and key and into the world of prying eyes, like a newborn babe seeing the sun for the first time and yet I've always felt as though the sun has been with me, next to me.

I find myself without words, which is a rarity but I find myself with an empty glass which is both the cause and the effect of this suddenly speechlessness. My voice, with my spirits, have fled as I awake from what can only be a dream.

Wait. I lie.

I find myself quite drunk and yet my words have left me. Such is the way of things in the end.

[justanotheridealist]

There is something ironic? Unfortunate? Strange? about stumbling into a new world of vast, infinite possibilities, and then finding myself in the land of Grantaire. I have the slightest suspicion that multiples will be coming out of the woodwork to drink, to play dominoes, or to shoehorn in an excessive rant based on everything and nothing against the rights of man.

Surely a world with unlocked doors is a good world. It entails a sort of trust between participants, a better means of communication, and a faith in the people to not abuse this system.

You are being morose again. Do you not care for company?

[hiscynic]

A land of Grantaire would be a sight to behold. I have visions of a sea of men, drinking and laughing and losing spectacularly at billiards, most likely to a single, solitary Courfeyrac.

Speak more to me of this world without locks, without limits. I will listen.

[justanotheridealist]

A picture is worth a thousand words.



It's not often you care to hear me speak of anything. Will you listen? In so doing, will you actually hear the words I speak?

[inseine]

[Perhaps, when our young Apollonion male surveys the crowd before his angelic little feet, Enjolras would glimpse a tall statue cast in grim shadow lurking pensively against the wall. He was not a man who blended easily into crowds unless he chose to by force of will; he was a fellow whose face and bearing one could never forget. He commanded the attention of all glances in the room, the yang to the blond, charismatic beauty's yin at the center.

His expression was cold, save for a minute crack, a pull, at the corner of his thin lips, square jaw a tad slack. He leveled an intent, stinging stare on Enjolras. It gave the impression of a startled wolf, ready to bark out his next bite at the observer's first misstep.

Whatever thoughts were going through his head, they certainly did not agree with the meat of this man's self-important, righteous little speech. But whether it was the speech itself, or the man in question... Well. The light of dour recognition in his steady, unblinking eyes might offer a glimpse of insight, to that extent.]

No.

Hiding is not a thing I would peg on you. No. You air yourself out quite well. In every incarnation.

[justanotheridealist]

[What does an eagle fear from a wolf? What does the light fear from the shadows? Nothing at all. Fear is not the word Enjolras would use to describe how he felt toward the all-too familiar mouchard lurking amongst the crevices. Pity would be more akin to how he felt. Pity for the man who was stuck within his own mind. Pity for the man who could not comprehend a world without prejudice. Pity for the one who upheld a corrupt law and thought it just.

What words could he use for such a man? To grind him further into the dirt? That was not Enjolras' style. That was not his way. He yearned to lift up, all the while knowing that one cannot be lifted unless that was what one chose. You cannot force a man to fly. Just as you cannot force a man to truly empathize with those who had a harder life.

So what did the mouchard deserve? They were no longer upon a barricade. They were no longer embroiled within a civil war, for all wars were civil, and now this man was back to being Enjolras' brother.

But certainly not his friend.]

A shame I do not meet you in every incarnation, Monsieur l'Inspecteur. [For he would not be impolite despite the rudeness directed toward him. Again, that was not his way unless he is pushed hard toward it.]

Yet here you are and here I am. You needn't sulk about, sir. You may draw as close as you like. Neither one of us fears the other. All that separates us are words and ideals, and I doubt you would let either get to you.

[He refuses to say the obvious. That Javert is here, that he is listening, that he chose to make his presence known. A moth to a flame?]

[inseine]

[Pity! Would Javert know it is pity this dangerous traitor actually felt for him, he would balk and sneer. As it is, he flashes his teeth in a grim smile, devoid of real emotion.]

You would dare invite a known police-spy to draw closer? This is a call for your motley band of comrades. Not mine.

[Enjolras is right about something: Javert had and has no fear in the young revolutionary's presence. The intent, impassive gaze returns.]

You've got me here where I can see and hear you. Where else would you place me?

[justanotheridealist]

While a motley crew my friends may be, the term of comrades would imply something different. We are not comrades-in-arms, nor would the Russian term truly hold up as we stand together through barricades and without them.

Regardless of the semantics, it would be your call as it would be your own legs bringing you forward. Since we're not in the middle of a revolution, what have you to spy on now?

[All right, so he can't resist having a little bit of fun.]

It seems you've neglected to dress the part of a spy now. Allow yourself to stand before me as an Inspector rather than a mere spy. What good is the law when those who enforce it must conceal themselves? What have you to hide?

[To be able to speak so within the presence of an officer is something Enjolras isn't used to, and he can't deny the sliver of enjoyment he feels at such a freedom. There is no fear of arrest, of grueling interrogation, and a death without a trial. There are only two men at polar ends of a spectrum, each an ideal unto itself. This change in atmosphere allows Enjolras to feel slightly more at ease.]