Erstellt am 06.07.2004 - 17:45

But amid these hot-blooded and passionate believers there was one skeptic, attracted to them, it would seem, by force of contrast. This was Grantaire, who ordinarily signed himself with the letter R - a play on the pronunciation of his name, grand R (or 'capital R'). Grantaire was a young man who made a point in believing in nothing...... He knew the best places for everything, besides being a boxer, gymnast and dancer, and skilled in the use of the singlestick. A great drinker into the bargain. He was astonishingly ugly, so much so that the prettiest boot-embroiderer of the day, Irma Boissy, was so revolted by his looks as to declare him to be impossible. But this in no way discourage Grantaire, who gazed tenderly and fixedly at all women with an air of saying, 'If I chose', and strove to persuade his comrades that he was universally sought after.......

But, skeptic that he was, he had one fanatical devotion, not for an idea, a creed, an art or a science, but for a man - for Enjolras. Grantaire admired, loved, and venerated Enjolras. The anarchic questioner of all beliefs had attached himself to the most absolute of all that circle of believers. Enjolras had conquered him not by any force of reason but by character.

Taken from the Novel Les Misérables Volume III, Book IV, Written by Victor Hugo.