Brickclub: 3.1.5
I adore the characterization of the city outskirts as amphibians. A transitional form that is nevertheless its own, wholly realized entity. Hugo really does paint them as kind of liminal spaces. Although it’s interesting how suburbs have evolved since Hugo’s day (and how much they differ in France and in the States). Because suburbs here are, I would argue, less wild than cities, are more manicured and orderly. But again, mine are modern suburbs, products born of things like the 1950s and cars and the US’... USness. Hugo is writing in a wildly different historical and social context, and his suburbs are transitional zones where the civilization that is the city gives way to the wildness of nature. And, obviously, the area around Paris wouldn’t have been truly wilderness when Hugo was writing, not for probably centuries, but you can see how, when you’re used to the cityness of Paris, even the harnessed wilderness that is the outskirts of the city proper would seem wild and mysterious.
So the gamin, Parisian to his core, cannot venture beyond the borders of Paris. And, since we know that this isn’t literally true -- Gavroche was, after all, born in Montfermeil -- it’s one more sign that gamin is truly a cultural identity rather than just the name for street kids in Paris. Being a gamin is a whole Thing. There are rules and behavioral standards and cultural codes to learn and to follow. And in return, like with any group, you get an identity and some form of community. We always see these kids in groups here. The gamin is never alone. They roam around in packs, and, while it’s not spelled out here, one assumes that, in their own way and to the extent of their limited abilities, they look out for each other. Again, we’ll see this when Gavroche takes the momes under his wing.
(And this all makes sense, of course, when we think about how much the Romantics, with whom the gamins are heavily associated here, cared about things like helping each other out and building communities. Les Miserables in general is like a thesis on Why Humans Need Other Humans To Survive Much Less Thrive.)
The children travel to the banlieue in order to escape the press of the city center. They too are liminal creatures, part human part something else, making everyone around them uncomfortable with their very existence, and so of course they would find safety and happiness in this liminal space between Nature and Man.
