Gin and Bitterness

 [Originally posted to Tumblr on 3 September 2013, and cross-posted to Wordpress on the same day.]

The wolf, like any number of animals frequently used as symbols, is one that can be imbued with a number of meanings, many of them contradictory. It is perhaps this versatility that makes wolves and wolf imagery so popular in literature, film, and music, indicating both aloneness and pack mentality, sexuality and transformation, responsibility and wilderness, and any number of other things. As a result, it is no surprise that Victor Hugo not only makes use of at least one possible interpretation of wolf imagery throughout Les Misérables, but uses that interpretation in a number of different ways and in association with a broad range of characters.

The most consistent use of wolf imagery in Les Misérables is in relation to criminal activity, with references to “furtive goings and comings, silent entrances and exits of nocturnal men, and the wolf-like tread of crime” (5.3.8). Most often Hugo’s use of wolf imagery extends to the notion of criminality in regards to several of the characters found in the novel, from Bamatabois’ wolf-like gait as he creeps up on Fantine (1.5.12) to Montparnasse’s demeanour upon being caught by Valjean, which is described as being “the humiliated and furious attitude of the wolf who has been caught by a sheep” (4.4.2). This imagery extends from these minor characters to a sizeable number of major players in the novel, who all exist in various shades of grey morally but who are all, in some way, linked together through imagery and contact with one another.


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Fandom: Les Miserables
Rating: M (whole series) / G (this chapter)
Setting: 1920s Prohibition au (dw tag)
Characters (in this chapter): Bahorel, Bossuet, Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Enjolras, Feuilly, Grantaire, Joly, Musichetta, Marius Pontmercy, Jean Prouvaire, Éponine Thénardier, Jean Valjean
Word Count: 2565

General Summary: The ABC Group is a small organisation who operate purely on principle - a group of bootleggers who run a not-for-profit speakeasy known as The Corinth out of the upper room of the Musain Café, with all profits going to aid the finances of one Mr. Jean Valjean and his daughter.

Despite run-ins with rivals, including the notorious Thénardier crime family, the group has managed to thrive in the heart of the city, but things have taken a sudden turn for the worse, with the Feds slowly circling under the direction of BOI agent Javert.

[Note: There will be major character death in later chapters.]

Important note involving ages of characters: Most of Les Amis (as well as Éponine and Cosette) are between the ages of 23 and 30, with the exception of Gavroche, who is 14/15. Valjean is 60ish, but due to the way in which I’ve set up where his backstory intersects with Javert’s, Javert is around 39.

Chapter Summary: Marius attends a Sunday night meeting at The Corinth, and discovers that something is amiss between the ABC Group and their rivals, the Thénardiers.

Author’s Note: I started this as part of a Les Mis Across History event and only got two chapters in before losing my confidence. I would still like to finish it someday but don't know if I could do it as well as I thought.

 

The streets were strangely deserted as Marius Pontmercy made his way to The Corinth, though it was Sunday night, so he supposed that he ought not to be too surprised, even for this part of town. As he slipped through the darkened Musain Café, he exchanged curt nods with Mr. Valjean, the owner who was working late as usual – in part in case anything was needed upstairs, and in part because he could hardly afford not to. It was, Marius was aware, only due to his financial troubles that he had allowed the ABC Group, as Enjolras had christened them, to occupy his upper room, transforming it into the Corinth. Avoiding eye contact for too long, he hung his coat on an overloaded coat rack and mounted the stairs.

The lights of The Corinth were dimmed and the thick, faux-velvet curtains drawn, leaving bizarrely shaped shadows across the mural-covered walls of the speakeasy. Enjolras stood at the round table central to the room, his blond hair tied back from his face with a red ribbon – something that had initially drawn mockery, at least until his reputation for being as ruthless as he was principled spread through the city; Marius shuddered remembering the rumours about the consequences of crossing the ABC Group’s boss. He had yet to see him in action, aside from his impassioned speeches and remarkable efficiency, but it was hard not to fear the sharp, intelligent blue eyes and the set of his marble features.

“We are bootleggers on principle, not for profit,” Courfeyrac had warned him before bringing him up for the first time, “Any profit goes towards helping Mr. Valjean and his daughter.” At the time, Marius had been sceptical – who the hell bootlegs for charity after all – but after a few weeks, it became clear that Courfeyrac had not been exaggerating.

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