Summary: Book One: Waterloo
It is June 18, 1815,
and the narrator gives us a vivid and extensive account of the Battle
of Waterloo. This battle marks the defeat of Napoléon Bonaparte
and the end of his empire. The narrator, suggesting that most accounts
of the battle are seen from the perspective of the victorious British,
resolves to focus instead on the efforts of the French forces. Napoléon’s
men view their leader with “religious awe,” but despite his brilliance
they are defeated by foul weather. Napoléon has more artillery than
Wellington, the British commander, but a sudden rainstorm delays
the battle and gives Prussian reinforcements time to arrive and
help the British. The French get stuck in an impassable muddy road
and are wiped out by British artillery. Though the French are defeated,
the narrator claims that the real victors of Waterloo are the individual
men who are standing up for their beliefs. He cites the heroic example
of Cambronne, a soldier who, when called upon by the British to
surrender, stubbornly fights to his death.
During the night following the battle, prowlers emerge
and begin to steal gold and jewelry from the dead soldiers. This
pursuit is dangerous, since the leader of the English troops has
ordered all thieves to be shot dead. As one prowler steals a cross,
a watch, and money from a seemingly dead officer, the officer suddenly
revives. The officer thinks the prowler has saved his life and asks
his name. The robber replies that his name is Thénardier. The officer,
whose name is Georges Pontmercy, promises always to remember Thénardier
for saving his life.
Summary: Book Two: The Ship Orion
Rumors fly about the capture of Jean Valjean. Newspaper
articles suggest he was Fantine’s lover and that he withdrew 700,000 francs just
before his arrest. In the town of Montfermeil, where the Thénardiers’
inn is located, people notice an old road-mender named Boulatruelle
digging holes in the forest. Thénardier gets Boulatruelle drunk.
The old man reveals that he has seen former prison comrade enter
the forest with a small chest, a pick, and a shovel, and that he
is trying to find the buried treasure.
The narrator directs our attention to a newspaper article
about the Orion, a warship docked in Toulon. In
November 1823, a sailor on the Orion falls
off one the ship’s masts, barely catching hold of a footrope. No
one from the substantial crowd is willing to make the dangerous
effort to rescue the sailor, but one of the convicts on the ship’s
chain gang asks for permission to rescue the man. The officer agrees
and the prisoner climbs up the ship’s rigging and saves the sailor.
The crowd applauds the prisoner’s death-defying feat, but the prisoner
suddenly stumbles and falls into the water. He does not resurface.
After an extensive search, the convict, who is Jean Valjean, is
proclaimed drowned.
Analysis: Books One–Two
Valor and heroism are the dominant qualities in this section,
as Hugo contrasts the valiant behavior of the French army with the
dishonorable actions of Thénardier in order to draw a distinction between
real heroes and false ones. Thénardier is less savory than the rest
of the army, a person so despicable that the English commander orders
men like him shot without trial. Ironically, however, Thénardier
is the man whom Pontmercy mistakenly identifies as a hero. Hugo
does not dispute that real heroes exist, since he greatly admires
the defiant Cambronne, who soldiers on against all odds. By introducing
Thénardier at the end of the account of Waterloo, however, Hugo
reveals that not all heroes are what they seem; Pontmercy’s gratitude
toward Thénardier suggests that some men we regard as heroes may
in fact be scoundrels. Hugo also implies that men who usurp the
title of hero bring shame upon everyone else, as the description
of Thénardier’s graveyard prowling interrupts Hugo’s rousing historical
account of Waterloo and causes it to end on a disgraceful note.
The idea of real and false heroes extends beyond the
episode at Waterloo and allows us to view Thénardier as a foil (a
character whose behavior or personality underscores opposing traits
in another character) for Valjean. Like Cambronne and the rest of
the soldiers who die at Waterloo, Valjean is brave, determined,
and conscientious. We see his heroism all the more clearly when
we compare it to the despicable behavior of Thénardier, who robs
the dead and falsely takes credit for bravery that he does not actually
exhibit. Valjean clearly possesses more admirable qualities, but
it is Thénardier who is erroneously rewarded for his actions. Hugo
encapsulates the flaws in society’s values by contrasting these
two men’s intentions with the unfair ways in which they are rewarded.
While Thénardier’s lies earn him glory and gratitude, Valjean’s
true heroism earns him persecution and jail time.
