The fist: the Generous Power of the People

How difficult it is to find anything but serenity among these faces! How difficult it is to find hate! Marching together in such numbers, one would feel almost invincible! The hands are outstretched rather than threatening, and when fists are brandished, it is a rallying sign, conveying unity rather than aggression.

It is with their hands, as much as with their voices that the demonstrators communicate: their enthusiasm as they applaud, their timidity, as they raise a barely closed fist, or their determination, as they brandish their fist in a threatening manner.

FIf, by chance, a "bourgeois" risks a peek from behind his shutters, the crowd rushes to mock his fright rather than to threaten him. The mocking condescension of the people is made up of generosity, but the wounds it leaves in its adversaries can never be forgotten.