Volume 5/ Books Two to Nine: Summary

This section begins with an aside on the nature and history of the Paris sewer system. Soon, the attention turns to Valjean and Marius. With Marius on his shoulder, Valjean makes his way through the complexity and darkness of the sewer system. By now police troops have been mobilized to scour the sewer for rebels on the run. With Marius still unconscious and perilously close to death, Valjean finds a note in Marius’ pocket with M. Gillenormand’s address in it. The note also requests that his body be taken to the address.

Valjean eventually locates an exit, but Thenardier, who holds the key to the exit and assumes Marius to be dead, demands a share of Marius’ possessions. Thenardier does not recognize that the man he is talking to is Valjean. He then rips off a piece from Marius’ clothing to use as evidence to link Valjean to Marius. When Valjean exits the sewer, he runs into Javert, who has been pursuing Thenardier.

Recognizing Javert, Valjean asks if he can take Marius to his grandfather before he can surrender. Javert accompanies Valjean, and once Marius is left in the care of M. Gillenormand, Valjean asks if he can go to his apartment and bid goodby to Cosette. Javert agrees and takes Valjean to his apartment and agrees to wait for him in the taxi. Soon, Valjean realizes that Javert has left, and is unsure what to make of his disappearance.

Javert takes a walk by the river in an attempt to resolve his confusion. He is grateful to Valjean for not having killed him, but is also troubled by the thought of letting Valjean go, a man he has chased all his life. Nonetheless, the conflict helps Javert realize some of the shortcomings of France’s prison and justice system. He writes a note with suggestions to improve the prison system and returns to the river and drowns himself to death.

Meanwhile, Marius gradually recovers from his injuries and is nursed back to health by his grandfather and aunt. He reconciles with his grandfather, who in turn approves of his marriage to Cosette. Their wedding takes place with Valjean and M. Gillenormand’s approval. The Gillenormands are unaware of Valjean’s identity. They know him only as M. Fauchelevent, and Cosette is assumed to be his daughter, Euphrasie Fauchelevent. Marius is also unaware that it was Valjean who’d rescued him, but he has a faint memory of being rescued and yearns to meet the “archangel” who had saved his life.

Valjean is also able to arrange for Cosette’s dowry; to this end, he uses the money he’d withdrawn from his ban in M. sur M. and buried in a forest. He also ensures that Cosette’s identity as an illegitimate child will never be found. He then pretends to have injured his writing hand to avoid signing the wedding document with a false name. During the wedding dinner, Valjean slips away unnoticed and returns to his apartment. He is distraught at having lost Cosette and ponders telling Cosette about his background, but is afraid that Cosette might never speak to him if she were to find out.

The next day, Valjean decides to reveal his true identity to Marius. He pleads with Marius to not reveal his identity to Cosette, and Marius agrees. He also allows Valjean to visit Cosette every evening in the Gillenormands’ waiting room. Marius finds himself worried that Cosette’s dowry might have been acquired through illegitimate means. He is also unaware that Valjean hadn’t killed Javert, and begins to see Valjean as a deplorable criminal.

When Valjean insists that Cosette call him Monsieur Jean, the two begin to grow apart gradually. As Valjean visits Cosette every evening, Marius rearranges the visiting room to make it uncomfortable for them to meet in and to hint that Valjean is not welcome in his house anymore. Valjean soon stops visiting Cosettes, and much to his dismay, Cosette doesn’t seem to miss Valjean.

Unable to see Cosette anymore, Valjean falls severely ill and plunges into depression. Concerned by his deteriorating condition, his landlady summons a doctor, who tells her that Valjean is on the verge of dying and deeply pained by the loss of a loved one. Realizing that he will be dying soon, Valjean attempts to write Cosette a letter stating that her dowry was not acquired through illegitimate means, that he’d earned the money fairly from his time running the bread factory. However, he is overcome with grief and despair and is unable to complete the letter.

Meanwhile, Thenardier, pretending to be a statesman, visits Marius in the hope of earning money by sharing details about Valjean. Marius, however, recognizes Thenardier; though he gives Thenardier some money, he treats him with disdain. Marius finds out from Thenardier that Valjean’s fortunes were earned through legitimate means and that Valejan had not killed Javert. Thenardier then shows Marius the piece of cloth he’d ripped from him in the sewer and suggests that Valjean is a killer nonetheless. However Marius recognizes the scrap as a piece of his own jacket and understands that Valjean was his savior.

Marius realizes that he had misjudged Valjean. With Cosette by his side, he rushes to Valjean’s apartment. They tell Valjean that they love him and insist that he move in with the Gillenormands. Valjean tells the couple that he is on the verge of death, but thrilled to see them. He urges them to not be sad, and dies contentedly.

Analysis: Volume 5/ Books Two to Nine

Though Javert redeems with his not and his decision to give up his pursuit of Valjean, his suicide is the result of his inability to deal with the nuances of morality. He thinks that justice is always the same as morality, and when Valjean lets him go, Javert is unable to deal with the implications. Javert also represents the rigid, unimaginative approach to justice. In the end, Valjean’s compassion turns out to be too much for Javert to bear.

By confessing his true identity to Marius, Valjean keeps the promise he had made to the Bishop about being an honest man. When Marius tells Valjean that he may be able to get him (Valjean) a pardon, Valjean politely declines, suggesting that he is at ease with his conscience. In this regard, Valjean is the polar opposite of Javert; Valjean understands that popular conceptions of justice in nineteenth-century France are inadequate and make no room for moral complexity.

Valjean’s decision to refrain from visiting Cosette plunges him into despair and illness. Nonetheless, it also exemplifies the magnitude of his transformation from a criminal to a saintly figure. Valjean’s redemption would not have occurred without the Bishop’s kindness; the Bishop’s candlesticks serve as a symbol for compassion, and, just before his death, Valjean hands over the candlesticks to Cosette and Marius, thereby urging them to follow the guiding light of compassion.