Gavroche decides to go to war. Without much ado he steals an old pistol from a junk shop and swaggers down the street to the accompaniment of a song from his vast repertoire. Unfortunately, the pistol does not have a hammer. Gavroche, however, is above this or any other disappointment. If his gun is less than lethal, his monologue becomes inflammatory. If he cannot afford a piece of cake, he gets immense pleasure from tearing up billboards or insulting a bourgeois. He has a choice reply to the indignant remarks of three old crones. He hurls a stone through the windows of the barber shop whose proprietor treated his two proteges so callously. Life is a continual adventure.
Now he is about to embark on his supreme adventure. At the Saint Jean market, he meets Enjolras' group and decides to join forces with them. As they march, new recruits, workers, artists, students, swell their ranks. In the Rue Lesdiguières, they enlist a most unlikely fire-brand, the gentle M. Mabeuf. His mind in a trance, but his posture militant, he follows the tumultuous crowd. Near the Rue des Billettes, a tall graying man joins them.
As he passes in front of his own house, Courfeyrac takes advantage of the situation to grab some money and a suitcase. On the way out, he has a few words with a young worker who is waiting for Marius. The worker follows him.
Adjoining the Halles, in a decrepit neighborhood of labyrinthine and somber streets, we find the Rue de la Chanvrerie. One end is blocked by a row of tall houses in which the ancient Corinth wine shop is located. The street would be a dead end if it were not for a narrow passage, the Rue Mondétour, which leads out of it. Inexplicably, since the food is poor, the wine atrocious, and the decor rudimentary, the Corinth has become the hangout of the Friends of the A.B.C.
On June 5, two inseparable friends, Laigle (Bossuet) and Joly, are having lunch at the Corinth. They are joined by Grantaire, who takes his nourishment in liquid form. Indifferent to the trouble brewing outside, he is earnestly trying to do justice to two bottles of wine. Alcohol proves to be a melancholy muse, and he rambles on wryly about the imperfections of man and God. "I hate mankind," he avers. Books are a proliferation of trivia. Women sacrifice their virtue to greed. Brutal self-interest governs international relations. God is an unimaginative creator who must forever correct his work through revolutions, great men, and assassinations. The universe is a shabby place and everything is going wrong.
After his sweeping condemnation, Grantaire attacks his second bottle. He is about to launch into another diatribe when a nine-year-old urchin brings Laigle a cryptic message from Enjolras: "A.B.C." It is his invitation to Lamarque's funeral. But the three companions prefer wine to politics and at two in the afternoon their table is strewn with empty bottles. Grantaire especially is drinking with a vengeance. He has replaced wine with a potent mixture of brandy, stout, and absinthe. Suddenly a tumult interrupts the drunken conversation. Through the window Bossuet spots Enjolras and his armed men looking for a place to erect a barricade. He suggests the space in front of the Corinth. The location is strategically perfect.
In a flash, the houses and streets are stripped. Soon a rampart higher than a man blocks the street. Everyone participates feverishly except Grantaire, who merely looks on and blathers incoherently. Enjolras, irritated, dismisses him with a cutting remark. But Grantaire refuses to leave, promises to sacrifice his life, and collapses in a drunken stupor. Under Enjolras, Combeferre, and Courfeyrac's energetic direction, the fortifications are rapidly completed. To the original barricade has been added another one, closing one side of the Rue Mondétour.
The barricade is now manned by about fifty defenders. They are a motley aggregation, including every age, all kinds of faces, an indescribable combination of arms and costumes. Among these disparate strangers reigns a spirit of perfect fraternity. Gavroche is the life of the party. A perpetual motion machine, he is everywhere. He encourages a worker, goads a student, stings everybody. Only one shadow mars his enthusiasm: he is unhappy with his useless gun.
At dusk the barricade is finished. The men are ready, the sentinels posted, and in the deepening silence the rebels wait calmly. So remarkable is their sang-froid that the younger men recite love poems. Gavroche alone is preoccupied. The man from the Rue les Billettes has a disturbing familiarity. Finally, dumbfounded, the young boy finds the key to the mystery. When Enjolras approaches him to send him on a reconnaissance mission, Gavroche gives him a stunning piece of information: "Do you see the tall man?" "Well?" "He's a spy."
Enjolras immediately interrogates the suspect, who haughtily admits his double identity. His papers confirm his confession. It is Javert, and his orders are to spy on the insurrectionists. He is tied up and condemned to be shot just before the capture of the barricade. Gavroche, exultant, goes out to reconnoiter, but not before laying claim to Javert's gun: "I'm leaving you the musician, but I want the clarinet."
Revolutions, while they breed heroism, also bring out the dark side of man. Thus it happens that a certain Le Cabuc conceives the idea of posting a sniper on top of a tall building. But the fearful tenants have locked the door. Le Cabuc tries fruitlessly to break it down. Attracted by the noise, the porter sticks his head out the window. When he refuses to unlock the door, Le Cabuc shoots him. Without a moment's hesitation, Enjolras grabs the killer by the shoulder and forces him to kneel, gives him a few minutes to prepare himself for death, and executes him. To a silent audience he delivers a funeral oration in which he expresses horror for his necessary act and hopes for a future where the reign of love will replace that of death.
Meanwhile, Marius, overwhelmed by despair, interprets the voice that has called him to join his friends at the barricade as an order from destiny. Driven by a death wish, he makes his way through the crowd, eludes the troops, and finds himself in a no-man's land, an immense, dark vacuum. Only the agonized voice of Saint Merry's tocsin disturbs the silence.
In the total darkness, Marius spots the red light of a torch and goes toward it. He reaches the Rue de la Chanvrerie barricade, but before he steps inside, he stops to examine the flux of contradictory emotions that surge in his heart. First he is proud to imitate his father's bravery; then he shudders at the ignoble nature of the conflict in which he is about to participate. But his despair, his duty to his friends, show him no alternative. Finally an illuminating thought sweeps away his hesitations. Wars are not judged by the identity of the opponents, whether they are foreigners or compatriots. All wars are internecine since we are all brothers. Wars find their justification in their ideal. Consequently, Marius' cause is just since he is about to fight for freedom.
At ten in the evening, the long wait of the revolutionists at the barricade ends. Gavroche sings a warning and regains the barricade, out of breath after his patrol. The rebels take up their combat positions. A moment later, they hear the growing sound of steady, unhurried footsteps. A disembodied voice asks: "Who goes there?" At the reply "French Revolution," a heavy volley shakes the barricade and knocks down the flag. One man volunteers to put it up again: Mabeuf. Like a specter he climbs the barricade, to the awe of the spectators. With a cry of "Long live the Republic!" he falls back, cut down by a bullet.
While the insurrectionists pay Mabeuf their last respects, the army attacks and manages to climb over the rampart. Gavroche and Courfeyrac are in mortal danger. In the nick of time Gavroche's assailant receives a bullet in the forehead and Courfeyrac's is hit in the chest. Marius has joined the fight in a spectacular manner. Immediately a soldier takes aim at him, and his death seems inevitable, but a young worker puts his hand on the barrel of the soldier's gun and saves Marius' life at the expense of his own.
