Summary: Book Four: Javert Off the Track
[T]o betray society in order to be true
to his own conscience . . . this is what prostrated him.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
After leaving Valjean at his house, Javert wanders the
streets of Paris lost in thought. For the first time in his life,
he is racked by indecision. He feels that turning in Valjean would
be ignoble and undignified, but as an officer of the law he feels
he cannot let his man go. Javert’s only goal in life is to be beyond
reproach, but Valjean’s mercy makes it impossible for him to remain
true to this goal. With a final note of resolution, Javert writes
a letter to the prefect of the Parisian police with several suggestions
about various matters of discipline and prison life. Javert then
walks to the raging Seine, spends some time watching the waters
flow by, and finally throws himself in and drowns.
Summary: Book Five: Grandson and Grandfather
Marius makes a slow recovery in his grandfather’s home,
unaware that it is Valjean who rescued him from the barricades.
Marius has suffered a broken collarbone and lost a lot of blood
from his many wounds. After six months with a raging fever, he makes
a full recovery, and his thoughts turn immediately to Cosette. Eager
to reestablish good terms with his beloved grandson, Gillenormand
grants Marius permission to marry Cosette. He does so with some
reservation, since he still believes that Cosette is a simple working-class
girl without any money. When Gillenormand finally meets Cosette,
he is amazed by her beauty and shocked when Valjean tells him that Cosette
will have a dowry of 600,000 francs.
Cosette and Marius are not interested in such financial matters,
and Marius declares his undying love for Cosette.
Summary: Book Six: The White Night
Because Valjean is the only one who knows about Cosette’s
illegitimate birth, there are no more obstacles in the way of Cosette
and Marius’s marital bliss. A few days before the wedding, Valjean
fakes an accident with his writing hand. The others do not realize
that it is merely a ruse so that he will not have to forge a false
name on the marriage certificate. The ruse works, and Gillenormand
signs all the necessary documents instead. The wedding day is a
happy one, and Cosette moves into the Gillenormand household. Valjean,
however, spends the night lost in thought, distraught that he is
losing the only person he has ever loved.
Summary: Book Seven: The Last Drop in the Chalice
Now that Cosette is married, Valjean feels compelled to
confess his criminal past. He goes to Marius’s house and tells the
young man everything. Marius is shocked by Valjean’s revelations
and at first refuses to believe them. Valjean almost breaks down
in his attempts to convince Marius that he is telling the truth.
Marius finally accepts Valjean’s statements as the truth and offers
to arrange for a pardon, but Valjean refuses. Cosette, flushed with
happiness, comes into the room and jokes with the two men, and she
pouts playfully when they send her away. Marius agrees with Valjean
that it would be best if Valjean never saw Cosette again. In the
end, however, Valjean caves and asks that he be allowed to see Cosette
in the evenings at least. Marius agrees. Once Valjean leaves, Marius
begins to regard his father-in-law as a criminal, a belief that
is cemented by the fact that Marius thinks Valjean really did execute
Javert on the barricade. Marius also begins to doubt the legitimacy
of Cosette’s dowry.
Summary: Book Eight: The Twilight Wane
Unknown to Cosette, Marius slowly pushes Valjean out of
her life. Marius ensures that Valjean’s visits become less frequent,
and when Valjean does come to the house he is received only in the
unfurnished cellar below the parlor. Depressed at having lost Cosette
forever, Valjean returns to his apartment. He takes to his bed and catches
a fever. As he lies in his room in misery, Valjean thinks that he
will never see Cosette again and that death cannot come soon enough.
Summary: Book Nine: Supreme Shadow, Supreme Dawn
Thénardier visits Marius a few weeks later, disguised
as a statesman. He tells Marius that he has information about Valjean
that he is willing to sell. Marius tells Thénardier his disguise
is useless, since he knows who Thénardier really is, and contemptuously
pays Thénardier five hundred francs. Thénardier reveals that Valjean earned
Cosette’s dowry legitimately from his work as a manufacturer under
the name Madeleine. He also tells Marius that Javert was not murdered,
but actually killed himself.
