1.2.4-Lifeisyetfair

1.2.4
To start with, the chapter title. I believe it literally means “the torment of war,” but these sources give "magnum tormentum belli" and “tormentum bellicum” as meaning “piece of artillery” or “cannon.” So there’s a double meaning in the chapter title. This would incline me to think that the loose cannon symbolizes the civil war specifically rather than the revolution generally. It strikes down indiscriminately and brings no particular benefit, and once it starts, it’s almost impossible to stop. Moreover, the destruction is taking place in the belly of the ship (the country) and risks completely destroying it. Note that for all the loose cannon’s horror, the blame is with the man who failed to fasten it and with the forces of nature: “It lives with a sinister life which comes to it from the infinite. The deck beneath it gives it full swing. It is moved by the ship, which is moved by the sea, which is moved by the wind. This destroyer is a toy. The ship, the waves, the winds, all play with it, hence its frightful animation.” Ultimately, the infinite (God?) is responsible. "The ship has, so to speak, in its belly, an imprisoned thunderstorm, striving to escape" I’m taking note of this line because the revolution will later be likened to a storm. But… "All the terror of the situation is in the fluctuations of the flooring. How fight an inclined plane subject to caprices? The ship has, so to speak, in its belly, an imprisoned thunderstorm, striving to escape; something like a thunderbolt rumbling above an earthquake." The source of the terror, the thing absolutely impossible to fight when at sea, is the ground moving beneath you.

"To form an idea of this strange sliding, let one image a drop of water running over glass."

And I love how after all the frightful metaphors, it’s likened to a single drop of water. Except then you imagine a massive chunk of metal sliding with the ease and inevitability of a drop of water… The writing in this chapter is really wonderful.