Les Misérables: Essential Edition

N those days, so different from those in which we are now living, when the time came for the people to understand, when the hour struck for them to learn their letters in the great book of events, there existed in Paris, among other affiliations of that nature, a society called the Friends of the A B C. The Friends of the A B C were few in number. It was a secret society in the embryonic state. We might almost say a coterie, if coteries could end in heroes. They assembled in Paris, in two localities, near the fish-market, in a wine-shop called Corinthe, and near the Panthéon, in a little café in the Rue Saint-Michel called the Café Musain. The first of these meeting-places was frequented by working-men, the second by students. The ordinary sessions of the Friends of the A B C were held in a back room of the Café Musain. This room, which was tolerably remote from the café proper, with which it was connected by an extremely long corridor, had two windows and a back door with a private stairway on the little Rue des Grès. They smoked and drank and played and laughed there. They talked very loud about everything, and in whispers of something else. Marius discovers the Friends of the ABC, a secret society of young student revolutionaries who meet in the back room of Café Musain. Led by the passionate Enjolras, these idealistic young men dedicate themselves to republican ideals and social justice. The group includes the skeptical yet loyal Grantaire, the scholarly Combeferre, and other students who balance their romantic notions with genuine political conviction. Through their fervent discussions and planning, Hugo explores the tension between youthful idealism and the harsh realities of political change. Marius finds himself drawn to their cause, which offers both intellectual stimulation and a sense of purpose that fills the void left by his estrangement from his grandfather. The chapter establishes the revolutionary backdrop that will drive much of the novel's climactic action.