1.2.1-Primeideal

ClubNinetyThree 1.2.1: England and France (In Concert)
As will probably become clear I’m not actually into all this close reading stuff, so, er, let me just squint at that chapter title a little more, because it varies between translations!

”England and France” on its own really doesn’t say much, specifically, about what the countries are doing. England and France go to war? England and France argue about tariffs? England and France play a soccer match? Could be anything. But “England and France In Concert” narrows it down a little more. “The crew of this vessel was French, but it belonged to the English fleet…” No matter where the ship comes from, the soldiers on board are unambiguously French.

Someone pointed out that last chapter, Michelle didn’t consider herself French—it wasn’t her patrie, she just had her pays. It was the soldiers who took her in and called her a citoyenne. The guys on the ship, however, might not recognize the current government of Paris as being the lawful government of France. Yet, that doesn’t change their self-identification as French—no matter what the soldiers in the woods might think.