Scout shrugs, but rather than one of not understanding, it's one of sad resignation. "They're part of an army. They don't care how they look. People will just blame their commander for whatever he told them to do, and if they win, they can tell whatever story they want about it."
"Machine guns are only good if people are far away. They're big and heavy and no good if someone's close to you," Gavroche says like it's an explanation. And it is, to him. His experience of war showed grownups not as hungry for glory, but ruthlessly practical. No one stood on ceremony or honor in his war. "If you run away, you have to leave the guns behind, and your leader gets mad and might punish you. So if you want to hold the line, you shoot while they're all still far away. I guess they hoped there weren't enough kids to protect the other grownups."
Stab scratches out his picture, leaving a blank dirt canvas once more. He draws two little stick figures, one with squiggly hair and a smile and the other with no face. Then he draws a big stick figure with a speech bubble, and in the speech bubble is a house with flowers in front. The big stick figure has two fingers messily crossed behind its back.
Then Stab makes the smile on the smiling little stick figure bigger.
"They told you they were taking you to a nice home, but they lied," Scout says, and he takes Stab's lack of objection as confirmation.
"And your friend believed them and was really excited," Gavroche says, finally a touch of pity reaching his voice. How unfair to get someone so excited, just to slaughter them.
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"Machine guns are only good if people are far away. They're big and heavy and no good if someone's close to you," Gavroche says like it's an explanation. And it is, to him. His experience of war showed grownups not as hungry for glory, but ruthlessly practical. No one stood on ceremony or honor in his war. "If you run away, you have to leave the guns behind, and your leader gets mad and might punish you. So if you want to hold the line, you shoot while they're all still far away. I guess they hoped there weren't enough kids to protect the other grownups."
Stab scratches out his picture, leaving a blank dirt canvas once more. He draws two little stick figures, one with squiggly hair and a smile and the other with no face. Then he draws a big stick figure with a speech bubble, and in the speech bubble is a house with flowers in front. The big stick figure has two fingers messily crossed behind its back.
Then Stab makes the smile on the smiling little stick figure bigger.
"They told you they were taking you to a nice home, but they lied," Scout says, and he takes Stab's lack of objection as confirmation.
"And your friend believed them and was really excited," Gavroche says, finally a touch of pity reaching his voice. How unfair to get someone so excited, just to slaughter them.