While the growing popularity of the “too soon” response/meme is fascinating, I would posit that due to the century and a half between the original publication of Victor Hugo’s seminal classic “Les Miserables” and the online publication of the fictional character Gavroche’s Starbucks order, the joke in question– one directly referencing Gavroche’s death in the novel, where he is shot trying to collect ammunition for the barricade boys– cannot be accurately described as “too soon” if we can all agree that that particular length of time can be summarily classified as “a fairly long time ago at this point, before any of us were born, probably.”
However I do also acknowledge that the intent of the “too soon” response is meant to convey that the event in question still causes the individual immeasurable pain or distress regardless of the length of time between either the event and the discussion/reminder of the event OR, alternatively, the individual’s first experience of the event and the discussion/reminder of it. In this particular case, without knowing exactly when or how this anonymous individual first learned of the tragic fate of Gavroche, perhaps this darkly comedic reminder of his untimely death is, in fact, “too soon.”
Isn’t language fascinating? On a completely unrelated note, can you tell how long it’s been since I, a recent recipient of a bachelor’s degree in English, have extrapolated on a literary subject to this extent and in this fashion? Or was the fact that I wrote two paragraphs on the meaning and implication of a meme enough of a clue? Just let me know.
-Jill
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