1.2.5-Primeideal

ClubNinetyThree 1.2.5: Vis et Vir
"The captain promptly recovered his presence of mind and ordered everything that could check and impede the cannon’s mad course to be thrown through the hatchway down on the gun deck—mattresses, hammocks, spare sails, rolls of cordage, bags belonging to the crew, and bales of counterfeit assignats," It’s like a reverse barricade? Kind of? Sort of? Probably not. Also it doesn’t work at all, but +1 for "just throwing junk into a pile" tactics.

About that counterfeit money: “of which the corvette carried a large quantity—a characteristic piece of English villany regarded as legitimate warfare.” We’ve had the deception of the fake merchant ship, and the fake peasant; now we’re carrying around fake money.

"Do you believe in God, chevalier?" La Vieuville replied: “Yes—no. Sometimes.” "During a tempest." "Yes, and in moments like this."

So not a lot of foxhole atheism going on. We were told a few chapters ago that everyone in the crew was a “good seaman, good soldier, and good royalist. They had a threefold fanaticism: the ship, the sword, and the king.” But even if the church has become associated with the counterrevolutionaries (remember those stick crosses in the forest, in the first chapter), that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be consistent in their religion. (Neither will the revolutionaries necessarily be consistent in rejecting it.)

"The battle began. Battle unprecedented. Frailty struggling against the invulnerable. The gladiator of flesh attacking the beast of brass. On one side, brute, force; on the other, a human soul. All this was taking place in semi-darkness. It was like the shadowy vision of a miracle.”

Man versus machine—I almost get Valjean vibes at this point. Not really, mind you, because Valjean wasn’t part of a royalist crew trying to go to war on people. But he’s messed up, and now he’s doing his best to atone for his failure. And he has to demonstrate his strength by struggling against a machine (Fauchelevent’s cart? I’m not sure, this is pretty tangential.)

Anyway, this nameless gunner succeeds, not through his own strength or ability, but through the grace of the mysterious passenger stepping in. The counterfeit money actually gets put to a solid purpose, and the day is sort of saved. As much as possible, at this point. To what extent can the anonymous gunner complete his redemption? Well, that too depends on the society around him—the relationships among his fellow sailors onboard.

Commentary
Shirley-keeldar Thank you for mentioning the counterfeit money! I noted it at the time but then got too excited about the rest of the chapter to remember. I like the little dig at the English, and the reminder that the sort of war these guys are making is below the belt.

Fizzygingr Your point about man vs. machine got me thinking, in a kind of rambly way. Valjean’s struggle is against a machine that’s designed for progress and forward motion, but that backfires and crushes the people it’s supposed to be helping. It’s the Progress of Society, good in itself but disastrous when poorly executed. The cannon is designed for destruction, and backfires only by destroying the wrong people in the wrong way. It’s War, and it’s disastrous even when done properly.

And then we have the gunner, who battles rage and violence the only way one can: with his humanity. Which adds a layer of irony to the next chapter; he fought the machine by being human, and they respond to him by being mechanical. It’s the simple equation of “justice”: failure = punishment. They are part of the same Machine of War that the gunner was fighting, the same machine that destroyed their own ship.