Les Misérables Volume 5, Chapter 18 Summary

Summary

The chapter opens with a meditation on the surreal psychology of barricades: civil war feels like an apocalypse, a dreamlike suspension of ordinary memory. The narrator emphasizes how those who pass through a barricade live in a strange mixture of terror and tranquillity, with moments that seem eternal yet yield little clear recollection afterward.

Returning to the Rue de la Chanvrerie, the insurgents hear a distant clock strike midday. Enjolras seizes the moment and gives rapid, precise orders: haul stones into the upper rooms, block windows, prepare loopholes for guns, and arm the wine-shop as an interior stronghold. Sappers and miners appear at the street end, signaling an impending formal assault. Enjolras divides his men between guns and missiles, assigns ambushers to the attic, nails up the kitchen door that serves as the ambulance, and instructs workers to be ready with axes to cut staircases if necessary. He insists that their impending death be a masterpiece.

Javert, pinioned as a prisoner, becomes the focus of a grim exchange. Jean Valjean returns among the insurgents and requests the right to execute Javert; Enjolras approves, lays a pistol on the table, and entrusts Valjean with the task. As the trumpets sound and the defenders surge out to meet the assault, Javert laughs his quiet laugh and pronounces, “We shall meet again shortly!” The chapter closes at the cusp of battle, with the insurgents pouring out and the tension ratcheted to the moment of the assault.

Key events

1. Narrator reflects on the dreamlike psychology of barricades.
2. A clock strikes midday; Enjolras issues urgent defensive orders.
3. Sappers and miners appear, indicating an imminent assault.
4. Windows and attic are barricaded with stones and loop-holes made.
5. Enjolras organizes men, arms positions, and nails up the ambulance door.
6. Jean Valjean is given charge of the bound Javert to execute him; trumpets sound and the assault begins.

Analysis

This chapter shifts from a philosophical meditation to precise tactical action, linking the novel’s grand moral reflections with the immediate mechanics of revolutionary violence. The opening paragraph frames barricade fighting as an apocalyptic, iconic experience—this universalizes the street struggle and prepares readers for the heightened, almost ritual quality of the defenders’ preparations. Enjolras’ methodical commands and insistence that their death be "a masterpiece" crystallize his character: a leader for whom idealism and aesthetic rigor blend, treating collective sacrifice as an ordered, almost artistic act.

Tactically detailed passages (stonework, loop-holes, division of men) ground the novel’s lofty themes in physical reality, making impending combat tangible. The handing of Javert to Jean Valjean introduces a moral crossroad; Valjean’s willingness to carry out execution underlines his integration into the insurgents’ cause and positions him for a decisive moral test. Javert’s calm laugh and prophetic line serve as foreshadowing and remind readers of his implacable constancy. Narratively, the chapter functions as a pivot from preparation to action: it ends just as the assault begins, sustaining suspense while elaborating character through decisions made under crisis.

Important quotes

““It is midday,” said Combeferre.”

CombeferreThe clock striking signals the moment for Enjolras to launch urgent defensive measures.

““We are the two leaders. I will give the last orders inside. Do you remain outside and observe.””

EnjolrasEnjolras designates roles for himself and Marius, showing calm command and strategic division of labor before battle.

““We shall meet again shortly!””

JavertJavert's quiet pronouncement as the defenders sally forth serves as a chilling, ominous refrain at the start of the assault.

Characters in Volume 5, Chapter 18

• Combeferre
• Enjolras
• Feuilly
• Bossuet
• Mabeuf
• Marius Pontmercy
• Javert
• Jean Valjean