Fantine, Cosette, Marius

Jean Valjean's dream 99

After the dream Jean Valjean has, what does the setting represent? "He awoke. He was chilly. A wind as cold as the morning wind made the sashes of the still open window swing on their hinges. The fire had gone out. The candle was low in the socket. The night was yet dark" (Hugo 99). Valjean feels like he's still dreaming "There were still no stars in the sky" (99). He's still unsure of what to do.

Theme: Justice and Injustice

Another major question the novel deals with is whether the legal institutions of the state achieve justice.

What is duality of men

Asserting the duality of human nature means, despite its complexity has two fundamental aspects. Some people believe that every human being has a good side and an evil side.

Where does M. gillenormand live?

At Rue des Filles de Calvire, No. 6.

Why was Jean Valjean imprison

For stealing a bread and later stealing a coin

who is marius father

George Pontmercy He always wore a blue officer coat and calls himself Colonel Baron Pontmercy

Who was the skeptic of the abc

Grantaire. He is there b/c he loves Enrolas

Why did Jean cry and how long did had he not cry before?

He had not cry for 19 years in prison. He cried for the first time when he stole from Petit Gervais. "While he wept", the light grew brighter and brighter- an extraordinary light. Light = Revelation.

How does Mr. Gillenordmand discover that Marius is a Napoleonic

He looked at a box and read the message inside. He though the paper was a love letter, an affair, but it was a letter from George Pontmercy.

description of Javert

He wanted to relieve his position when he thought he flse deounce Madeleine

What was Valjean's life like before prison?

He was poor, living day by day trying to support his sister, Mere Jeane, and her 7 children as a tree pruner.

Duality of light and dark

His internal struggle shows that he can never escape either side of him (light or dark), much like every human being on Earth If he remains Madeleine, he'll always be a dishonest man who is depriving an innocent person of their freedom If he confesses, he'll be back where he started, punished for a noble action "He also, while the olive trees were shivering in the fierce breath of the Infinite, had long put away from his hand the fearful chalice that appeared before him, dripping with shadow and running over with, in the star-filled depths" (Hugo 97) "Suddenly his eyes fell upon the two silver candlesticks on the mantel, which were glistening dimly in the reflection. 'Stop!' thought he. 'All Jean Valjean is contained in them too. They also must be destroyed'" ... "At that moment, it seemed to him that he heard a voice crying within him: 'Jean Valjean! Jean Valjean!' His hair stood on end; he was like a man who hears some terrible thing." (Hugo 94)

Animal Imagery

Hugo uses to accentuate character's quality of good and bad Ex. Cosette is described as lark. = free Ex.Thernardier are snakes = manipulative, cruel,

What doe Victor Hugo criticize?

Human rights violation, social injustice, and ignorance

Where is the theme or moral redemption seen

In Jean Valjean and In the country france through the revolution

What does Waterloo represent?

Similar to Paris, Waterloo represents both good and evil. It is the site of triumph and also of death

What does Myriel's candelstick =

compassion. Frequently used to remind Valjean to be selfless and the duty to compassion for others.

What does a black symbolize?

death, mourning, evil, power, mystery and fear.

first house with cosette

house of gorbeau

Where do the Thenardier and Marius live

in the gorbeau building

jean first resurrection

jumping off ship Orion

name of convent

petit convict

The role of conscience

pg (87) He never wanted to interfere with God Jean valjean was extremely conflicted. He wants to be an honest man and turn himself in. But wants to continue to also be the mayor.

When was Hugo born?

1802

Romanticism

19th century artistic movement that appealed to emotion rather than reason Romantic literature emphasized the individual self and the value of the individual's experience and the connection to natural order and nature.

Jean's number

9430

In the trial of Champmathieu was unfair.

"Above the head of the judge was a crucifix, a thing which did not appear in courtrooms at the time of his sentence, when he was tried, god was not there" God awaits and judges Jean's decision "what evidence was that this thief was Champmathieu?" One single thing. That he was formerlu a convict. Champmathieu was barely literate and had no lawyer

What was Valjean carrying when he went to the bishop's bedroom

A drill to unlock cabinet to steal silver.

Revival`

Each step distances himself from moral depravity. What are the stages of revival 1, Madeleine- exchange with petit Garvis 2, Father - Jumps off Orion 2, Father - helps bury nun

What does Jean Valjean's dream mean

"After a little while, I turned and I saw a great multitude coming after me. I recognized all the men that I had seen in the city, their heads were strange. They did not seem to hasten, and still they walked faster than I. They made no sound in walking. In an instant this multitude came up and surrounded me. The faces of these men were the color of earth. Then the first one whom I had seen and questioned on entering the city, said to me: "Were are you going? Do you not know that you have been dead for a lon g time? Saying "jean is dead?" When he took over the identity of Monseiur Madeleine, he have gave up Jean Valjean, so he is dead. He is up in heaven with his forgotten brother.

Promised to be an honest man

"All he has done was nothing if he did not do that! All his life was useless, all his suffering was lost. He had only one question: "What is the use?"" (90). "He felt the bishop was there, that the bishop was present all the more then he was dead." (90) "That men saw his mask, but the bishop saw his face. That men saw his mask, but the bishop saw his face. (90) "He took the whole rags, sticks, haversack, and threw them all into the flame[...] Suddenly his eyes fell upon the two silver candlesticks on the mantel [...]At that moment, it seem to him that he heard a voice crying within him: "Jean Valjean! Jean Valjean! " "Yes! That is it; finish!" said the voice, "complete what you are doing! Destroy these candlesticks! Annihilate this memorial! Forget the bishop! !forget all! Ruin this Champmathieu! yes! very well. Aplaud yourself! [...] Monsieur Mayor; remain honorable and honored,enrich the city, feed the poor, bring up the orphans, live happy, virtuous, and admired, and all this time while you are in here in joy and in ligh, there shall be a mn wearing your blouse, bearing your name in ignomity and draginng your chain in the galleys! Yes! This is a fine arrangement! Oh, wretch!. "Each of these two ideas which couseled him appeared to him as fatal as te others. What a fatality! This resembles the Strange case of Hyde and Jekyll. Duality of man. Selfish vs honest.

When Jean Valjean was about to kill the bishop. The description of Bishop Myriel

"At the instant when the "moonbeam overlay", so to spead, this inward radiance, the sleeping bishop appeared as if in the "halo". But it was very mild, and "veiled" in an "ineffable twilight". (30) "The crucifix on the mantel piece was dimly visible in the moonlight, apparently extending is arms toward both, with a benediction for one and a pardon for the other.

Fantine's death

"Death is the entrance into the great light." "Fantine was buried in the common grave of the cemmetary, which is for everybody and for al, and in which the poor are lost. Happily, god knows where to find the soul. Fantine was laid away in the darkness with bodies which had no name; she suffered the promiscuity of dust. She as thrown into the public pit. Her tomb was like her bed. (134)

Jean Valjean and Cosette discovers love. Compassion theme.

"He felt inward yearning, like a mother and knew now what they were for its incomprehensible and very sweet" (183). "At age of eight her heart was cold.. ad from the very first day, all that thought and felt in her began to love this kind old friend" (184) Thanks to him, she could wak upright in life; thanks to her, he could persist te virtuous deeds. (186) Escape scene with Cosette "The difficulty was Cosette? Abandon her? John Valjean did not think of it?" Never escape successfully from the law before.

Bishop Myriel Giving Jean the candlestick

"I am glad to see you. But I gave you the candlesticks also which are silver the rest, and would bring two hundred francs. Why did you not take them along with your plates? (33) "Forget now, never forget that you have promised me to use this silver to become an honest man"(34). "You belong no longer to evil but to good. It is your sould that I am buying for you. I with draw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition and I give it to God!" (34).

Fantine's love of Cosette pushes her through all tribulation

"She worhsiped her child. The lower he sank, the more all became gloomy around her, the more sweet little angel shone out in the bottom of her" (63).

Animal Imagery of Cosette

"The captured mouse was a very puny one, but the cat exulted even over a lean mouse" (47). In the place she was called e lark. People like figurative names and were pleasd thus to name is litle being not larger than a bird, trembling, frghtened, and shivering, awake every morning first of all in the house of the village, always in the street or in the field before the dawn. Only the poor lark never sant. (49)

Thenardier greed

"The innkeep comtemplated by the turns the doll and the traveler; he seemed o be scenting this man would as he would have scened a bg of money (171). Willing to sell a child. "Monsieur," said he, " I must have fifteen hundred francs" The stranger took from his side pocket an old black poketbook [...] Bring Cosette (177).

Animal imagery of Thenardier

"They are souls which, crablike, crawl continually toward darkness, going back in life rather than advancing in it. "Thenardiess with her hyena moth, and wrath flashing from her eyes (153)"

Cosette- doll vision

"This whole booth seemed a palace to her, this doll was not a doll, i was a vision, it was joy splendor , riches, happiness, and it has a sort of chimerical radiance to this unfortunate ittle being" (152). Doll symbolize the childhood that she yearns. Imagine the christmas decorations and festive light. Forshadow future when Jean gave her the doll. Contrast the beating Cosette faces in life.

Bishop Myriel Offering kindness to Jean Valjean

"What you will keep me? You won't drive me away? A convict! You call me Monsieur and don't say get out dog! (16)" Bishop Myriel, ""You have left a place of suffering. But listen, there will be more joy in heaven over the tears of a repentant siner than over the white robes of a hundred good men. . If you are leaving that sorrowful place with hate and anger against men, you are worthy of compassion. (18)

theme of redemption and forgiveness from les miserables

At the beginning of the book, Jean Val Jean was lost and cruel. However, as the book progressed Redemption occurs following christian Ideology: selfless love and goods work. Jean Valjean reedeems himself through philantropist efforts at a mayor. His love and care for Cosette is another. However, there are many time when he faces difficulty in this pursuit. World is complicated Ex. When an innocent is convicted in place of him, Jean Valjean had to choose whether to protect this innocent man or to protect the town he has created. Both options breaking his path of redemption. Another obstacle is selfishness. He struggles whether he should let Cosette be with guy, promoting happiness or good work, but doing so would mean him giving up Cosette, sacrificing companionship. Cosette is the only one Jean Valjean has, the rest his family and fantine died.

What was Mabeuf's profession

Botanist. Her servant was Mother Plutarch

Who does the police false believe to be Jean valjean?

Champmathieu

Theme: Human Rights

Closely related to the theme of transformation is that of human rights, which is the purpose for the barricade and what the students, workers, and downtrodden poor people of Paris want.

Cosette forrest

Cosette corrupted by nature. Lost in the wood "The branch twisted about like long arms seeking to seize their prey." "Man needs light; whoever plunges into the opposite of the day feels his heart chilled, when the eyes sees blackness, the mind sees trouble. (155)" "it was not merely terror that held her, but something more terrible even than terror. She shuddered [...] Her eyes had become wild. She felt that perhaps she would be compelled to return there at the same hour the next night (155)" "This man, without saying a word, had graspe the handle of the bucket she was carrying. There are not instincts for all the crises of life. The child was not afraid.

Who was the ABC and Marius Mutual friend

Courfeyrac

Social Injustice: Victor Hugo condemns the unjust class structure. Showing time and again that cruel society turns good, innocent people into beggers and criminals

Criticize society that allow the elite to abuse poor freely. Meanwhile, society is harsh for impoverishm, excarbating social issues, inspiring cruelty and hatred . Ex. Justice system hurt the poor more severely and not giving mercy. Ex. Jean Val Jean was punished harshly for stealing bread. It later turn him into a career criminal. Ex. Fantine was impregnated and the reputation prevented her from beingable to find a job. It led her to become a prostitute. Clumsy cruel justice system ruin lives- Javert killing Fantine and destroying the family that Jean, Fantine wanted to build. He criticize the double standard- the aristocrats are able to live proniscuous life, while people who was a convict or women who lost its purity are marginilized and not given a mercy Again environment -> change character temperament

Plight of orphans or the vulnerable

Criticize sociey for being evil Cosette- losing its mother. Poor treatment of widows Marius- Losing grandfather due to politics Gavroche-kicks out Thenardier family Fantine and Jean Valjean- no parents and have to survive by themselves

Heaven and Hell

Dante's inferno. Go through hell to reach heaven. When ever he adopts Jean Valjeans identity, He could only enter heaven by denouncing his public image (entering hell) "To remain in paradise and become a demon! To re-enter into hell and there become an angel!" (Hugo 96) "He could only enter into sanctity in the eyes of God, by returning into infamy in the eyes of men!" (Hugo 90).

3d time Valjean transformed

Death: "Father Fauvent, what shall be done with the coffin? " "It will be put in the ground Empty? Reverend mother, I wil put some earth into the coffin. That will have the effect of a body." (213 the next day birth: "'He is Father Fauvent's brother.' In fact, Jean Valjean was regularly installed; he had the leather kneecap and the bell; henceforth he had his commisioned. His name was Ultimus Fauchelevent (213).

Disguises and identity

Disguise use to escape justice: 1) Thenardier uses disguises to commit crime. Jondrette, Thenard 2) Jean Valjean uses disguises to survive and it shifts his identity. Both cases disguises are bad b/c it makes you a dishonest man. Valjean later relinquishes mask. Good characters are more willing to sacrifice mask Mask are only mask. It is important to remember the past and to accept that all personality good and bad are integral to make one whole

What role does the setting of the corridor play here? Consider syntaxi(sentence structure) specifically. (104) and (105)

Doorknob to the courtroom represents a significant barrier in JVJ's life, separating his innocent life as Mayor to a criminal "He looked at it as a lamb might look at the eye of a tiger" (Hugo 105). The eye of the tiger is the brass doorknob Going through Dante's Inferno. By referencing the stars, the doorknob is like a gate to heaven and he is being compelled by a higher power to turn the knob and enter the courtroom. Him entering the room might act as his entrance to heaven, as he is showing he has truly reformed by turning himself in. "The handle, round and of polished brass, shone out before him like an ominous star" (105). God and bishop reaffirm his will to be honest. After the mayor had passed the priest's house he halted, stood motionless, then turned about, and retraced his steps to the door of the parsonage, which had an iron knocker. He laid his hand quickly on the knocker and lifted it; then he paused again and stopped short, as though in thought, and after the lapse of a few seconds, instead of allowing the knocker to fall abruptly, he placed it gently, and resumed his way with a sort of haste which had not been apparent previously.

Where do the friend of ABC bmeat

In paris, at two places winshop called Corinthe and coffehouse called Le Cafe Musain.

Conflicts that cause conflict

Internal conflict cause conflict. If he remains honests, he has to sacrifice safety and others. Duality of good and evil This shows the impact of Jean's decision is beyond himself. If he goes to prison, the "entire country be let go to ruin! Must a poor hapless woman perish in the hospital! Must a poor little girl perish on the street!" Before the quote, it also is revealed that bringing Cosette to Fantine will heal her. He made a promise to Fantine that he will bring Cosette. By delaying his effort to find Cosette, he is also endangering Fantine

Javert

Javert's misguided and self-destructive pursuit of justice is more tragic than villainous. He is "a compound" of "respect for authority and hatred of rebellion," Hugo writes, "but he made them almost evil by his exaggeration of them". Reflective thought is "an uncommon thing for him, and singularly painful" because thought inevitably contains "a certain amount of internal rebellion." He is without vices, but upon occasion will take a pinch of snuff. His life is one "of privations, isolation, self-denial, and chastity—never any amusement". Javert has been described as a legalist: His "moral foundation ... is built strictly on legalism"; he is "one of the most tragic legalists in Western literature" and "the consummate legalist". Born in a prison (his mother a fortune-teller and his father serving in the prison galley), Javert sees himself as excluded from a society that "irrevocably closes its doors on two classes of men, those who attack it and those who guard it." He becomes a law officer on the basis of "an irrepressible hatred for that bohemian race to which he belong[s]" and a personal foundation of "rectitude, order, and honesty." So devoted is he to this choice that, Hugo writes, "[h]e would have arrested his own father if he escaped from prison and turned in his own mother for breaking parole. And he would have done it with that sort of interior satisfaction that springs from virtue."(54) It was implacable duty, absorbed in the police as the spartans were absorbed in Sparta, pitiless detective, a fierce honesty, a marblehearted informer, Brutus united with vidocq. (55) Erase his shame through strict commitment to the law. In his mind, a man is guilty when the law declares him so. When Valjean finally gives Javert irrefutable proof that a man is not necessarily evil just because the law says he is, Javert is incapable of reconciling this new knowledge with his belief

What is the Thenardier's undercover name when they live next door to Marius?

Jondrette

Who told Marius about his fater

Mabeuf "The father, for his part, kept behind a pillar, so nobody should see him. He looked at his child, and wept. This poor man worshipped this little boy.

What do Marius call Jean and Cosette

Monsieur Leblanc [white]- Jean. Mademoiselle Lanoire [black]- Cosette

What city is Father Madeleine mayor and what does it specializes

Montrieul- city brighten by Madeleine's altriusm. Industry- Black glass beads

Weakness of force: Violence never promotes change.

Napoleon regime topples quickly, the french Louis IX collapse, failure of the uprising of 1832

What is the setting of the story? How did he describe the setting? Why

Paris 1932 It is a dark, gloomy, and sinister place, full of plague carrying winds and polluting sewers, rotting old districts and slums. Its secretive parts are a blessing, though, for Valjean, who seeks refuge in dark corners. The narrow alleys lend themselves, too, to the building of barricades. The narrative also presents Paris as a microcosm, reflecting the world as a whole, the macrocosm. Paris stands for the world. Paris is a sum total, the ceiling of the human race.... To observe Paris is to review the whole course of history." Paris also has areas of beauty and tranquility, such as the Luxembourg Garden on a fair day, but even here discontent lurks in the form of two hungry boys wandering in search of food To show the effect of the setting on the characters. Ex. Some characters, such as Thenardier, an innkeeper who gets involved with the worst criminal elements of the city, are corrupted by local temptations and hardships. Others, like Gavroche, the street urchin who is The´ nardier's son, demonstrate courage and compassion in spite of their circumstances. For Valjean, Paris is both a refuge and a testing ground

What was Jean Valjean's job

Pruning the garden

What does white symbolize?

Purity and innocence, god, holy, knowledge

The importance of Love and Compassion: Love and Compassion is the most important thing to give someone to turn them to good.

Receiving loves can transform them to good. Valjean's transformation from hate-filled harden criminal to a well respected philantropist epitomizes Hugo's emphasis for love. Love beget love when Fauchelevent helps Valjean when he save his life. Javert changed by valjean Giving love also good for the soul. Helps Valjean remain positive during dark times

Who does romanticism vale

Romanticism valued the voices of the indivudals, inclduing the "common people". They tended to idealize the pastoral lives of farmers, shepherds, milkmaids, and other rustic people- who seemed to live simpler, less cynical, more wholesome time when humankind lived in harmony with nature. The experience of regular people = connected to nature

Cosette's fear

She feared both the woods and Thenardier. Fear motivated Cosette's action, no free will. "It was Montfermeil no longer, it was the open country [dark] and deserted space was before her. She looked with despair into this [darkness] where nobody was, where there were beast ad darkness where nobody was, where there were beastss and perhaps ghost. (155)" "Now, it was the Thenardiess that appeared to her, the hideous Thenardiess, with her hyena moth, and wrath flashing from her eyes. [..] What could she do? What would become of her." "Such dread with the Thenardiess inspired her, that she did not dare to go without the bucket of water (156)" "This man, without saying a word, had graspe the handle of the bucket she was carrying. There are not instincts for all the crises of life. The child was not afraid. Jean Valjean , a god or guardian angel.

Faitine's hair

She gave up her hair so her child will no longer be cold and bought a skirt with it. "She received the letter and crushed it in her hand for a whole day. In the evening she went into a barber's shop at the corner of the street, and pulled out her comp. Her beautiful hair fell below her waist. (63)

Theme: Class Conflict

The central struggle is also a class conflict: Revolution mobilizes the have-nots against the haves. The working-class of Paris is presented as an ominous force, ready to throw up a barricade at a moment's notice. The barricade marks the site where the life-and-death struggle of the disenfranchised and the government takes place.

Theme: Change and trasnformation

The most important theme the novel examines is that of transformation, in the individual and in society.

What is the essence of this book?

The novel is in essence a plea for humane treatment of the poor and for equality among all citizens.