RED ALERT RED ALERT
micaela and i were just going through the french originals of les mis and
it turns out “enjolras’ smiled was not completed” when he died more accurately colloquialistically translates to “enjolras’ smile had not been achieved” when he was shot
do you know what this means
do you know what this FUCKING means
enjolras had only begun smiling at grantaire when he was shot, he didn’t turn afterwards to face the soldiers or brace himself
enjolras died mid-smiling at grantaire
grantaire
was the last thing
enjolras ever saw
From what I take from “had not been achieved” it also means he never actually quite smiled. He was about to, but never did.
So maybe Grantaire saw the corners of his lips quirk, just slightly, but died before he could actually see his smile.
The last thing Enjolras tried to do before he died was smile at Grantaire. The last action he ever took – to start to smile.Whoops I made myself sad.
Obvs it’s kind of up to interpretation (hi I’m the Micaela mentioned above) but considering Enjolras presses his hand “en souriant” I’m pretty sure he is in fact in the action of smiling—he never hits full smile capacity but there is definitely smiling going on, he is mid-action