Les Miserables: Valjean Raises Suspicions

Hugo uses this chapter to surface he tensions surrounding Jean Valjean and his attempts to keep himself and young Cosette out of the suspicious eyes of the “law”. He is still an escaped convict, and though many assume he is dead after the Orion incident, he is still in danger of having his (and as a result Cosette’s) life completely disrupted if he is identified.

Two specific things are worth mentioning here:

1. The “chief tenant” of the house is the primary vector for suspicion. She is the one individual who is exposed to the most information about Valjean.
2. The main risk for Valjean is the tension we have already explored between the man he is growing to be (generous, compassionate, kind and full of love and life) and his need to disguise himself and essentially become invisible. This tension is the same one that caused the crisis between his identity as Valjean and Monsieur Myriel.

When it comes to the chief tenant, we are given insight into what she knows:

• She knows he has claimed Cosette is his granddaughter.
• She knows that hhe keeps a very low profile.
• She knows that he dresses like a beggar.
• She knows that he is not working.
• She knows that he seems to have plenty of money.
• She sees him with the thousand franc bill - a bill she has only seen a couple of times in her life.
• She sees that he removed that bill from a hidden place in his coat.
• Upon inspecting his coat she found many hidden things that seem to point to him wanting to hide his identity.

None of this bodes well for Valjean.

In addition to this, the tension we mentioned is playing out in the sense that even though people often give Valjean a sous here or there assuming he is a beggar, he is often observed giving out money (often silver) to beggars himself! this adds to the suspicion surrounding him, but is a natural consequence of the tension he is experiencing between his need to hide and the reality of who he is becoming.

Despite all of this, this time is one of great joy and delight for both Valjean and Cosette. They are learning the reality and power of love from one another, and it’s a powerful relationship they share of father / daughter, child / caregiver.