Volume 2/ Books One-Eight: Summary

Volume 2/ Book One: Summary

Book Two begins with Napoleon’s defeat to the British army in the Battle of Waterloo. The narrator contends that although Napoleon possessed superior artillery strength and was well respected by his troops, the French lost the battle mainly due to bad weather and poor luck. Persistent rain had hampered the French’s progress; they were left stranded on a muddy road and had become sitting targets for the British. The British also benefited from the forced delays caused by the rain: they could afford to wait for reinforcements from the Prussian state without ceding ground to the French. The narrator also contends that despite the setbacks, the French forces had fought bravely and heroically. Several high-ranking officials in Napoleon’s forces had fought valiantly until death rather than surrendering to the British.

As the battle drew to its end, human scavengers had scoured the battlefield, collecting stray valuables and other possessions from the dead. The narrator reveals that M. Thenardier had been one such scavenger. As Georges Pontmercy, a French officer wounded in the battle, regains consciousness, he notices Thenardier collecting various possessions from the dead. The officer mistakes him for a savior; he assumes that Thenardier had brought him back to consciousness and believes he is indebted to him. In truth, however, Thenardier had just robbed the officer as well.

Volume 2/ Book Two: Summary

Book Two returns to Jean Valjean’s story. The narrator reveals that Valjean had been captured soon after he had fled M. sur M. He was sentenced to a life of penal servitude on a warship named Orion stationed in Toulon. There are several rumors afloat about Valjean, who by now is a figure of public interest. One rumor holds that Valjean had swindled over half a million francs from his bank in M. sur M. before fleeing the village and that the money has still not been traced. Another rumor holds that Valjean had briefly lived in Montfermeil before his eventual capture. Notably, Montfermeil is also the town where the Thenardiers live.

Thenardier once notices a strange man who often spends his time digging in the forests of Montfermeil. The man’s name is Boulatruelle, an ex-convict, and Thenarider gets him drunk enough one day to make him confess to one of his own schemes. According to this coaxed confession, Boulatruelle is looking for a treasure buried by another ex-convict in the forests of Montfermeil.

Around the same time, a newspaper article (dated November 17, 1923) announces that Jean Valjean is likely dead. Allegedly, Valjean had tried to rescue a sailor who had fallen overboard from the mast. Though he had managed to rescue the sailor, Valjean is believed to have drowned and his body has not been located.

Volume 2/ Book Three: Summary

Book Three, set in 1823, focuses on Cosette, who still lives a deplorable life in the Thenardier household. Cosette, now eight years old, is deprived of food and clothing; she is dressed in rags and subjected to severe abuse and neglect. In stark contrast, the Thenardiers treat their own daughters with love and attend to their needs in a dignified manner. However, Mme. Thenardier subjects Gavroche, their youngest, a boy, to the same kind of mistreatment as Cosette.

On the Eve of Christmas, the Thenardiers’ inn is bustling with travelers when Mme. Thenardier orders Cosette to fetch water from a well located deep in a forest. Cosette is terrified by the journey to the forest, but manages to reach the well and fill her pail. As she struggles to lift the pail, a stranger lends her a timely helping hand. Cosette is not alarmed by the stranger’s intervention and allows him to carry the pail back to the inn.

The stranger turns out to be Valjean. When he finds out that the girl’s name is Cosette, he immediately realizes that she is Fantine’s daughter. He is shocked to discover the extent of neglect and abuse Cosette experiences at the inn. One evening, when he brings Cosette her first ever doll, the Thenardiers deduce that the stranger must be wealthy and pay him more attention than usual. They accommodate him in the inn’s most expensive room. The next morning, Valjean pays the Thenardiers 1,500 francs to force them to part ways with Cosette, who is thrilled to be rescued from the inn.

Nonetheless, M. Thenardier chases after Valjean and Cosette and demands more money from him. When he argues that he cannot let go of Cosette without her mother’s consent, Valjean hands him a note signed by Fantine just before her death. It states that Cosette is to be released to the man in possession of the note. Though M. Thenardier is not persuaded, he relents after taking Valjean’s superior physicality into consideration.

Volume 2/ Book Four: Summary

Valjean and Cosette lead an inconspicuous life in Paris; they rent nondescript tenement rooms and avoid flamboyant purchases. Valjean is thus assumed to be a poor man. Pretending to be Cosette’s grandfather, Valjean raises her with love and affection; he encourages her to play, to lead a carefree life. However, Valjean’s charity attracts attention and fuels speculation. One day as he approaches a beggar to give him some money, he is startled to notice that the beggar shares a striking resemblance with Javert. Valjean tells himself that the resemblance was a mere coincidence, that the beggar could not have been Javert in disguise.

Soon, however, Valjean spots Javert in his building. When his landlady tells him that she has a new tenant named M. Dumont, he rightly guesses that she might have alerted Javert. At once, he resolves to leave the tenement discreetly.

Volume 2/ Book Five: Summary

Valjean packs his meager possessions and flees from the tenement at night. When he accidentally drops some coins on the floor, he is afraid the noise might have alerted his landlady. Once outside the building, he notices Javert, accompanied by two other policemen, in pursuit. Valjean carries Cosette in his arms and finally manages to exit Paris and cross the Seine. Just as he begins to believe that he may have lost the policemen, he encounters Javert in an alley. This time, Javert is accompanied by more officers. Valjean determines that the only way to escape arrest is to try and scale the wall beside him and land on the other side. He quickly fastens Cosette to a rope and carefully drags her up after him. The two now find themselves in a large garden and also appear to have lost the policemen.

As Valjean and Cosette make their way around the garden, they are approached by Fauchelevent, the man Valjean had once rescued from under a carriage in M. sur M. The man at once recognizes Valjean as Mayor Madeleine. He tells them that they are in the garden of Petit-Picpus and that he is the convent’s gardener. Fauchelevent then invites Valjean and Cosette to his shed and allows them to spend the night there.

Javert had believed that Valjean had died in the Orion incident. Later, he finds out that the Thenardiers had reported Cosette’s kidnapping by a stranger, and is immediately reminded of Valjean’s association with Fantine. He then hears about a poor man in Paris who manages to give money to other poor people and resolves to find out if the poor, generous man could be Valjean. Having identified Valjean and prepared at length to secure his arrest, Javert is deeply disappointed and humiliated when Valjean manages to escape again.

Volume 2/ Book Six: Summary

Book Six focuses on Petit-Picpus, a convent established by a Spanish priest and known for its rigorous religious rituals. At all times, at least one nun is required to pray on behalf of all sinners. Similarly, at least one other nun is required to kneel in front of the Holy Sacrament at all times. Petit-Picpus is also a women-only convent and a boarding school for girls. The archbishop and Fauchelevent, the gardener, are the only men allowed in the convent. Fauchelevent is also required to wear a bell so as to alert the nuns and other women in the convent of his presence.

Volume 2/ Book Seven: Summary

Book Seven features one of Hugo’s famous digressions. Though it does not advance the main plot or any of the subplots, it serves as a powerful critique of monasticism. It states that democracy and religion are not necessarily at odds: in fact, Book Seven argues that the two are not just reconcilable but can also complement each other. Nonetheless, it argues that, by demanding complete isolation, monasteries can unwittingly give rise to fanaticism. It also argues that members of isolated monasteries often lack the capacity and willingness to understand the outside world. In effect, Hugo compares monasteries to prisons in this section.

Volume 2/ Book Eight: Summary

Since Fauchelevent only knows Valjean as Mayor Madeleine, he sees no reason to question him and Cosette. He feels indebted to Valjean for having saved his life and agrees to help him and Cosette. Fauchelevent suggests that Valjean could be the convent’s assistant gardener and that Cosette could be admitted to the boarding school. However, he also states that he must first safely escort the two out of the convent unbeknownst to the nuns before they can be brought back in with the nuns’ permission.

An elderly nun passes away in the convent while Valjean and Cosette are still hiding in Fauchelevent’s hut. Though the laws of Paris require Parisians to be buried in public cemeteries, the prioress seeks to bury the nun in the convent. To that end, she requests Fauchelevent to fill an empty coffin with mud and dirt before sending it to a cemetery, so the nun can be buried in the convent without raising suspicion.

Valjean sees this as an opportunity to leave the convent unnoticed: he decides to place himself in the coffin and devises a plan with Fauchelevent to escape from the coffin before the gravedigger can bury it. Miraculously, Valjean escapes unscathed and is introduced to the prioress as Fauchelevent’s brother. At Fauchelevent’s request, Valjean is hired as the assistant gardener and Cosette, who is introduced as Valjean’s daughter, is enrolled in the boarding school. Valjean soon falls in love with gardening and is also happy about Cosette’s education. Cosette is also allowed to visit Valjean every day, and the two lead happy lives in Petit-Picpus for several years.

Analysis: Volume 2/ Books One to Eight

The first volume addressed the life of a disenfranchised laborer in nineteenth-century France through Jean Valjean and the ostracism faced by poor, marginalized women through Fantine. The second volume focuses on Cosette, the mistreated child of a shunned woman. The Thenardiers not only take advantage of Fantine’s dire situation by demanding more money from her but they also abuse and mistreat Cosette on account of her background. Cosette represents the voicelessness and dispensability of poor, illegitimate children. Though Fantine loves Cosette dearly, she is unable to take care of her. Indeed, it is telling that Fantine has to conceal Cosette’s existence from the people of M. sur M. in order to provide and care for her.

Valjean also experiences two symbolic rebirths in this volume. First, when word spreads that Valjean had drowned while saving a sailor, he sheds his identity as Mayor Madeleine and his criminal history. His second symbolic rebirth occurs when he escapes being buried alive in a coffin. This time he assumes the identity of Fauchelevent’s brother and Cosette’s father.

Despite being forced to assume new identities, Valjean remains compassionate and altruistic. He grows to love Cosette and relishes the responsibility of raising her. Through Cosette, Valjean is introduced to paternal love. In fact, his goodness continues to grow throughout the novel.