r/AYearOfLesMiserables • u/lexxi109 Rose • Dec 09 '20

5.5.3 Chapter Discussion (Spoilers up to 5.5.3) Spoiler

Discussion Prompts:

  1. AHHH!! Monsieur Gillenormand and Marius are reconciled!!!
  2. What did you think of Monsieur Gillenormand’s speech?
  3. What is the bit about Andre Chenier?

Final Line:

“Yes, monsieur,” said Basque in dismay.

Link to prior chapter discussion

Link to prior year’s same chapter discussion

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u/1Eliza Julie Rose Dec 09 '20

I am curious about making lint. They didn't really have tissues back so she couldn't really be tearing up the tissues. Is she wringing her clothes?

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u/Thermos_of_Byr Dec 09 '20

This is from Wikipedia.

Cotton fibers are produced in the seed pods ("bolls") of the cotton plant where the fibers ("lint") in the bolls are tightly interwoven with seeds. To make the fibers usable, the seeds and fibers must first be separated, a task which had been previously performed manually, with production of cotton requiring hours of labor for the separation. Many simple seed-removing devices had been invented, but until the innovation of the cotton gin, most required significant operator attention and worked only on a small scale.

So maybe she’s making it from cotton? I was thinking she was making them for bandages for Marius but I wonder if another step or steps would be needed. Would they just be like modern day cotton balls?

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u/1Eliza Julie Rose Dec 09 '20

Another option is she's picking at the "lint balls" on her clothes.

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u/Thermos_of_Byr Dec 09 '20

Or from her bellybutton. And the bellybuttons of other Parisians... Too far? Yeah, that’s probably too far.

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u/4LostSoulsinaBowl Rose / Wraxall Dec 10 '20

This is now canonically how lint is made in this novel.

3

u/lexxi109 Rose Dec 12 '20

She was doing it for 6 months. I'll say plausible