what is the function of the story about the road mender and the traveler?

The mender of roads and the traveler, who is very weary, They meet using the name Jacques to identify them as revolutionaries and the traveler goes to a nearby chateau which formerly belonged to an executed marquis.  The chateau is set ablaze, and no one tries to put out the blaze or "rescue" the treasures inside.  The purpose, among other things, shows just how violent the entire revolution has become and how the people are simply out to destroy anything that represent a contrary point of view.