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Why does Bishop Myriel tell the police he gave Valjean the silver?
Bishop Myriel is the epitome of charity and selflessness. His life mission is to serve his fellow man and ease the suffering of others. By doing so, Myriel believes he can encourage others to adopt the same mission, thus bettering the world as a whole. When Valjean steals Myriel’s valuables and is thus arrested by the police, Myriel claims to have given Valjean these items, to save Valjean from being arrested. Myriel does so for two reasons. One, he believes most thieves steal out of necessity and can’t bear the thought that a man would suffer in prison just for desiring a better life. Second, Myriel believes by showing Valjean kindness he will encourage him to become an honest man and show kindness to others in turn.
Why does Fantine lose her job at the factory?
In the early 1800s, it was considered a great social transgression for an unmarried woman to have a child out of wedlock. Fantine had Cosette with Tholomyès, a man who was not her husband who proceeded to abandon her, and attempted to hide this fact by paying the Thénardiers to take care of her. Fantine is unable to read or write and has a scribe handle her communications with the Thénardiers; the scribe is a notorious gossip who tells Fantine’s secret to the factory workers, and Fantine is subsequently fired on charges of immorality.
Why does Éponine sacrifice herself for Marius?
Although it is Éponine who lures Marius to the barricade in the first place, hoping the two of them will die in the battle together, she nonetheless finds herself unable to watch Marius get shot and takes the bullet intended for him. She then confesses it was she who led him here, and says, as she becomes weaker, that she wants to die before he does. She gives Marius the letter she intercepted from Cosette; she doesn’t want him to be angry with her. After admitting that she was always “a little bit in love” with him, she dies.
Why does Valjean decide not to kill Javert?
Valjean’s driving force throughout the novel is to honor Bishop Myriel’s wish that he become a good and honest man, and to treat others with compassion. Despite Javert’s obsessive pursuit of Valjean, Valjean lets him go free when granted the opportunity to kill him, echoing the Bishop’s earlier interference on his behalf; just as Myriel once had mercy on Valjean, Valjean now shows mercy to Javert.
Why does Javert commit suicide?
Javert commits suicide because he cannot reconcile the ideas he once held with the truth he is now forced to confront—that Valjean is both a convict and a good man, one to whom Javert owes his life. On the one hand, allowing Valjean to go free compromises Javert’s values and his inflexible commitment to upholding law and order. On the other, Valjean has proven himself to be honorable by refusing to kill Javert, and this moment of generosity contradicts the convictions upon which Javert has shaped his entire identity and worldview. To arrest Valjean, a man of honor, would in turn dishonor Javert. Seeing no alternative, Javert resolves his inner crisis by committing suicide.
