tritt

although enjolras narrates the majority of deep end, many of the big moments are taken out of his POV. in fact, the POV often shifts away from him as soon as something big happens: beginning to understand grantaire, reaching out to cosette for the first time, getting drunk on his father's birthday, knocking on grantaire's door to apologize. i didn't just do this for the drama (although that's fun, too).

in these instances, the POV isn't so much "changed" as it is taken away from enjolras. he loses his ability to narrate these events, because he is losing control of his life. in chapter 3, he finally begins to understand grantaire — so, in chapter 4, grantaire becomes our narrator. in chapter 5, enjolras reaches out to cosette for the first time — so, in chapter 6, we hear from cosette. we don't even get enjolras' POV immediately before or after their meeting: grantaire narrates these moments for us. enjolras gets drunk on his father's birthday — and immediately, we cut to grantaire. enjolras knocks on grantaire's door to apologize to him — grantaire POV, again.

in fact, the main objective of the early grantaire chapters is to demonstrate just how out of control enjolras' life has become, both by stripping enjolras of his ability to narrate and by showing enjolras from a different light. whereas enjolras hides his emotions even from himself, grantaire notices many things about him, things enjolras isn't even entirely aware of himself. enjolras, seen through grantaire's eyes, is a different thing than enjolras seen in his own POV.

and grantaire, for his part, also appears differently between POVs. from his own point of view, he is a person of little worth and little use. from enj's point of view, too, he appears negatively at first, but over the chapters, his image of grantaire vastly improves. (cosette sees grantaire quite positively from the moment she meets him). the most accurate image of grantaire comes from enjolras' POV; the most accurate image of enjolras comes from grantaire's POV. they see each other with an accuracy that can only come from knowing one another for years, and not always liking one another, but loving one another all the same.

in the end, however, enjolras has the very last POV chapter. this is not simply because he is the main character: it's because he has regained some amount of control over his life. he is still hurting, still angry and confused and sad, but he understands it now. he understands himself. the love confession comes from his POV, because now, nothing has been taken from him. only given, or shared.

(this is not to say that grantaire doesn't have his own arc or importance within the fic. obviously, he does. his last POV chapter does not exist in this pattern of taking control from enjolras: chapter 24 is about grantaire growing and healing, for himself and for the people that he loves.)

cosette's POVs have a different objective from grantaire's, although her first POV does very much take control out of enj's hands. this is not simply for that reason, though. we are introduced to cosette through her own POV specifically for the sake of her own agency.

in canon, cosette is a character who very much lacks agency and autonomy, despite being the character around which most of the plot revolves. in translating these characters to a more modern setting, they must all change somewhat, but cosette is the character who stands to change the most. in deep end, her characterization was one of my biggest priorities. i wanted a cosette who was both rooted in canon, and yet in control of her own narrative.

so, we meet cosette through her own POV, and she narrates her first meeting with enjolras. her point of view does not revolve around enjolras, as grantaire's does. her POV is about herself, and her relationships with the other characters. enjolras is important, but he is not the main character in cosette's life. she is.