The barricade, on the Rue de la Chanvrerie, far from yielding, has been fortified. The wounded have been bandaged, lint prepared, and new bullets made. On the other hand, food has run out and the defenders are beginning to suffer from hunger. Since there is no food, Enjolras forbids the men to drink.
Dawn is coming, and the insurgents, unwilling or unable to sleep, are chatting. The conversation does not reflect their desperate position. Its tone is optimistic: humorous, literary, or philosophical. This mood, however, is shattered by Enjolras, who brings back from his reconnaissance the disastrous news that a large force has been assigned to take the barricade and that the populace as a whole has not joined the uprising. Optimism gives way to despair, but not to defeatism. The insurrectionists swear to fight to the last man.
But Enjolras refuses to accept such a sacrifice. He brings out four National Guard uniforms that he has laid aside for just such an emergency. They will provide a safe passage out for four men. No one, of course, wants to go, but Combeferre points out the uselessness of heroism and calls on the family men to leave and carry on the fight by protecting young girls from prostitution and children from hunger. In a sublime competition of generosity, each married man then pleads with the others to go. Finally five are taken out of the ranks — but there are only four uniforms. At this moment, a fifth uniform drops on top of the others. It is that of Jean Valjean, who has just entered the barricade. He is welcomed as a friend and a savior.
