Les Misérables Ch. 158: The Future Latent in

Victor Hugo

The Future Latent in the People

Summary

As for the Parisian populace, even when a man grown, it is always the street Arab. To paint the child is to paint the city. That is why this eagle has been studied in this arrant sparrow. It is in the faubourgs, above all, that the Parisian race appears. There this people toils and suffers, and those two faces are the faces of man. Among them swarm unknown beings, from the porter to the knacker. Cicero said the dregs of the city. Burke said mob. Rabble, multitude, populace: the words are quickly uttered.

What of it, if they go barefoot? They do not know how to read: so much the worse. Would you abandon them for that? Would you turn their distress into a malediction? Cannot the light penetrate these masses? Return to that cry: light. Light. Who knows whether these opacities will not become transparent? Are not revolutions transfigurations? Come, teach, speak aloud, spend alphabets lavishly, sow enthusiasms. This crowd may be rendered sublime.

These bare feet, these rags, these ignorances, these darknesses, may be employed in the conquest of the ideal. Gaze past the people and you will perceive truth. Let that vile sand which you trample under foot be cast into the furnace. Let it melt and seethe there. It will become a splendid crystal. Thanks to it, Galileo and Newton will discover stars.

In this chapter: Terms Key Quotes

Why This Matters

Refuse to abandon the child you have only named as a crowd

A crowd can still be dismissed with a single ugly word, then left barefoot. The narrator asks whether you would abandon them for not knowing how to read, then says the vile sand you trample can become the crystal through which stars are found.

This week, if a child is being filed as rabble, refuse the word, and do not leave him in the dark you have already named as curable.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: The sparrow

To paint the child is to paint the city, the narrator says, then asks whether you would abandon them for not knowing how to read. Bare feet are treated as a verdict. The sand you trample is the same stuff that can become crystal.

Continue this thoughtThe Street Treated as a Country

Coming Up in Chapter 159

Eight or nine years after the events of the second part, people noticed on the Boulevard du Temple a little boy of eleven or twelve. He had the laugh of his age on his lips, and a heart absolutely sombre and empty.

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Original text

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Chapter 158

The Future Latent in the People

As for the Parisian populace, even when a man grown, it is always the street Arab; to paint the child is to paint the city; and it is for that reason that we have studied this eagle in this arrant sparrow. It is in the faubourgs, above all, we maintain, that the Parisian race appears; there is the pure blood; there is the true physiognomy; there this people toils and suffers, and suffering and toil are the two faces of man. There exist there immense numbers of unknown beings, among whom swarm types of the strangest, from the porter of…

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The Future Latent in the People

Summary

Why This Matters