Like a passive-aggressive flatmate picking a fight about the washing up, it wasn’t really about the eels. The disparity between the rich and poor in the city had grown enormous, so it was probably a lot to do with that. The eel game was their ‘last pleasure’, and they snapped when that was taken away from them. Which speaks volumes about how terrible conditions must have been, to be honest. I mean, how bleak does life have to become before your only solace is yanking an eel off a rope?
