Symbolism is something that is woven deep within Les Misérables; it hides in stolen silver that leads to redemption, it lives in the guise of a doll that signifies a new life, and it resides in a simple house in a town called Digne, where the story, as well as this composition, begins.
Whenever the bishop of Digne, Monseigneur Charles-Francois- Bienvenu-Myriel, helped someone in need, he called it gardening. But why would he equate something so kind and saintly with something as simple and earthly as removing weeds from a flowerbed?
Think of how someone can be “in need”. It is not necessarily when someone needs financial assistance, or food or clothing. Being in need can also mean straying away from being a good person: prejudice, misfortune, and evil of all sorts robbing the soul of its goodness- like weeds in a garden. When one is free from evil, one is good again. When a garden is free of weeds, the garden may flourish.
The bishop, being the kind soul he was, as was alluded to in the previous paragraph, did a bit more “gardening” when a tired and worn man knocked on his door. In taking Jean Valjean in, the bishop, Monseigneur Bienvenu, displayed even more of the welcoming personality for which he was nicknamed.
This leads us to the objects that reconnect the reader to Bienvenu throughout the story: the silver candlesticks.
Upon being returned to the bishop by the police for supposedly stealing the former’s silver, Valjean is gifted not only the silver that he did steal, but the remaining candlesticks as well. Monseigneur Bienvenu hands them to him with the words: “Do not forget, ever, that you have promised me to use this silver to become an honest man.”
The silver candlesticks signify the redemption, the new chance at life that Bienvenu gave to Valjean. And he redeems himself, indeed.
By the end of the story, Valjean was rich. He was rich not only because of the silver, but as a result of how he had changed from a convict in constant fear to a man always willing to give. In the end, he bestowed his entire fortune to Cosette and Marius, and as he died, a beam of light from the candlestick shone on him, symbolizing how, as Bienvenu had at the start of the story, Valjean too had lived a compassionate life.
An example of how Valjean had been compassionate can be found in his taking in of Cosette. At the moment she was introduced to the story, beyond mentions of her name, Cosette was an orphan. Her life with the Thénardiers was far from a happy one, as her mother had thought and hoped when she left Cosette in their care. It was a life of servitude and fear.
This life was turned upside-down when Jean Valjean stays at the Thénardiers’ inn. He promised Fantine he would fetch Cosette, and remained firm to that promise, despite fulfilling it after Fantine’s death.
The drastic change from a servant to an educated girl with a
loving guardian is symbolized in Cosette’s doll, Catherine, which was a present
from Valjean upon leaving the Thénardiers.
Whenever the bishop of Digne, Monseigneur Charles-Francois- Bienvenu-Myriel, helped someone in need, he called it gardening. But why would he equate something so kind and saintly with something as simple and earthly as removing weeds from a flowerbed?
Think of how someone can be “in need”. It is not necessarily when someone needs financial assistance, or food or clothing. Being in need can also mean straying away from being a good person: prejudice, misfortune, and evil of all sorts robbing the soul of its goodness- like weeds in a garden. When one is free from evil, one is good again. When a garden is free of weeds, the garden may flourish.
The bishop, being the kind soul he was, as was alluded to in the previous paragraph, did a bit more “gardening” when a tired and worn man knocked on his door. In taking Jean Valjean in, the bishop, Monseigneur Bienvenu, displayed even more of the welcoming personality for which he was nicknamed.
This leads us to the objects that reconnect the reader to Bienvenu throughout the story: the silver candlesticks.
Upon being returned to the bishop by the police for supposedly stealing the former’s silver, Valjean is gifted not only the silver that he did steal, but the remaining candlesticks as well. Monseigneur Bienvenu hands them to him with the words: “Do not forget, ever, that you have promised me to use this silver to become an honest man.”
The silver candlesticks signify the redemption, the new chance at life that Bienvenu gave to Valjean. And he redeems himself, indeed.
By the end of the story, Valjean was rich. He was rich not only because of the silver, but as a result of how he had changed from a convict in constant fear to a man always willing to give. In the end, he bestowed his entire fortune to Cosette and Marius, and as he died, a beam of light from the candlestick shone on him, symbolizing how, as Bienvenu had at the start of the story, Valjean too had lived a compassionate life.
An example of how Valjean had been compassionate can be found in his taking in of Cosette. At the moment she was introduced to the story, beyond mentions of her name, Cosette was an orphan. Her life with the Thénardiers was far from a happy one, as her mother had thought and hoped when she left Cosette in their care. It was a life of servitude and fear.
This life was turned upside-down when Jean Valjean stays at the Thénardiers’ inn. He promised Fantine he would fetch Cosette, and remained firm to that promise, despite fulfilling it after Fantine’s death.
The drastic change from a servant to an educated girl with a
loving guardian is symbolized in Cosette’s doll, Catherine, which was a present
from Valjean upon leaving the Thénardiers.