Les Miserables - Part XI, The Wedding

[I had meant to work more on this, but that hasn't happened, so here it is in its unpolished state.]

I haven't taken any time to really think about Javert, so I won't address his character here, because you can't say anything about Javert without really thinking about him.

What I thought about yesterday as I read about the ecstatic reunion of Cosette and Marius and Valjean's discreet effacing of himself from the proceedings was that I related most to Valjean. Having never experienced what Cosette and Marius have, I sort of skimmed skimmed my way through the expressions of their delight. Reading about their joy didn't make me feel joyful, but reading about Valjean's despair made me sad. At first, although I realize this is superficial and I haven't experienced anything like Valjean's loss, I thought this was because of my singleness. But I have since realized that it's simply because I like Valjean a lot better than I like Cosette or Marius. So now if that guy on the bus were to ask me who my favorite character is, I would say Valjean, followed by the bishop.

Why couldn't they tell Cosette? She is not a strong woman character. Could she really not have handled the truth, or did the men underestimate her?

And why didn't Marius try to find out more about Valjean before condemning him? I guess that is addressed, but I was frustrated with him. Cosette says to Valjean when he is trying to distance himself, "If I didn't know you were so good, I would be afraid of you" (p. 1421). Marius doesn't share her faith. But even if he didn't have faith in Valjean, couldn't he have put more dependence in Cosette's faith? He recognizes that Valjean was an instrument of God, raising Cosette to be a good woman, but he doesn't go further to realize that God has changed Valjean himself into a good man. There's a section that says Marius was afraid to ask Valjean questions because he was worried about what he would find out, but in the end, it is that very truth that brings him relief.
Later: I have now been to book club and have a different perspective about this. One person said that the whole book is giving these examples of human nature, but still, in the end, Marius, who is based on Hugo, (good grief - too many commas!) misunderstands Valjean. We're human, it happens, we just need to realize that there's more to people than we think.

p. 1240, "The ideal is nothing more nor less than the culminating point of logic, even as the beautiful is nothing more nor less than the summit of the true." I haven't thought this over long enough to know if I agree with it, but I like the sound of it.

p. 1380, "The best way to worship God is to love your wife."

p. 1458, "It is nothing to die; it is horrible not to live."