the canticle in the fish’s belly

les mis, melville, lesbianism, theology, numbers.

[prudencepaccard]

Another excerpt from the conclusion of Le vandalisme littéraire, which ends in science fiction.

Le us prepare the apotheosis of the horrible.

That is what they have said, and it is what they have done.

But while we wait for posterity to nail their memory to the pillory of that same history they have so vilely defamed and insulted [T/N: oh man do I have some bad news for you], I felt that it was my duty to show you these new Vandals in all their ugliness.

And I conclude thus:

In social economy, romanticism has produced Saint-Simonianism and communism;

In politics, the Revolution of 1848 and the bloody days of June;

In philosophy, atheism, eclecticism and pantheism!

In literature, the Juif-Errant, Les Misérables and Le Maudit;

In religion, La Vie de Jésus and Les Apôtres [T/N: I actually have no idea what he’s referring to and can’t figure out from the title alone what the problem is];

In science, spontaneous generation.

Tomorrow it will cast its probe into the fields of space, through which it will travel in a balloon, and it will doubtless tell us how the inhabitants of the moon are dressed, and whether the absinth and cigars are of better quality there.

Can’t you just practically hear him harrumphing as he writes that last paragraph? Although I’m pretty sure this is actual plagiarism this time, since this stupid book came out one year after Verne’s De la terre à la lune (and, of course, Cyrano de Bergerac did it even before that). He’s not only an intolerable sack of self-righteous crap, but incredibly unoriginal to boot.

[lesbianvaljean]

Hugo spends much of "A Tempest in a Skull" setting Valjean up to be crucified.

The name "Jean Valjean" is seen as a sentence in and of itself: "to ever hear that name pronounced... would be the end of all things for him." As Mellow has written the name derives from Pontius Pilate's presentation of Jesus prior to his crucifixion!

Hearing the name Jean Valjean causes a "rent veil" and an "earthquake", both associated with the death of Jesus.

Valjean is seen as dying to save another, and by that achieving new life: "to surrender himself to save that man [and] to become... Jean Valjean, that was, in truth, to achieve his resurrection."

The narrator emphasizes a binary choice between Valjean or Champmathieu ("a stranger.... whom destiny... was thrusting into the gulf in his stead") being sentenced, paralleling the choice Pilate makes between Jesus and Barabbas.

If that all weren't enough, Hugo twice explicitly compares Valjean to Jesus approaching crucifixion. First Valjean yields to a "mysterious power which said to him: 'Think!' as it said to another condemned man, two thousand years ago, 'March on!'". Then, the chapter ends with a beautiful long comparison of Valjean to Christ in Gethsemane.

So, we end Tempest in Gethsemane. Where next? Well, the Stations of the Cross, a traditional narrative of Christ's road to the cross which invites Christians to walk with Jesus from his sentencing to his burial, just like Jean Valjean is about to do.

All 14 stations, I think, show up somewhere on the road to Arras. Some of these connections are explicit, some are more tenuous — would love to hear folk's thoughts on these + any I might have missed!

There are 14 standard stations (which also would have existed in Hugo's day, although not sure about their ubiquity in French Catholicism at the time.) Lots of variations exist -- if you're curious, here's a standard liturgy and some Vatican reflections.) So these 14 certainly don't include all the possible parallels. Valjean is denied by his three convict friends, for instance, as Jesus was denied three times by Peter; in 1.7.5 Valjean eats and rejects bitter bread, which I read as a nod to Jesus tasting and rejecting the sponge of sour wine; and even Romainville references Rome, of course the empire under which Jesus was crucified. But I think the 14 give a good sense of how totally central the crucifixion narrative is.

Jesus is condemned to death - Javert is quite clear in 1.6.2 that someone will be condemned to die in prison under the name of Jean Valjean. This is expanded upon at some length by Valjean in Tempest.

Jesus takes up his Cross - Valjean begins his journey to Arras in the tilbury.

Jesus falls the first time - Valjean's first delay: the tilbury's wheel breaks.

Jesus meets his Mother - Valjean's mother does not appear here. But we do get a strange dream featuring his brother, which may represent a similar familial presence before an immense suffering. Like Jesus' mother, Valjean's brother cannot save him; he cannot even accompany him through the end of the dream.

Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross - The young boy helps Valjean find a new cart, which lets him continue his journey to Arras.

Veronica wipes the face of Jesus - We could read this as the old woman who lends Valjean her cart. The veil Veronica is said to have used to wipe Jesus' face took his image and was venerated as a relic for centuries as the true image of Jesus (Veronica means "true image"). So she is seen in the Church as a compassionate documentary witness to his suffering. I think there's a case to be made that the narrator might be taking the place of Veronica here, showing us the imprint of Valjean's suffering in the documents, like his journal, that Valjean produces.

Jesus falls for the second time - Valjean's second delay: the horse is exhausted and road work lengthens the way.

Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem - I think this station can be seen in the reaction of the courtroom spectators, who are transformed into "sympathizing hearts" as "capture all souls and turn witnesses into spectators" Certainly Jesus's reaction is appropriate: "Weep not for me but for your children"

Jesus falls for the third time - Valjean's third delay: the cart's whiffle-tree breaks.

Jesus is stripped of his garments - Valjean destroys his old clothes, in an attempt to strip himself of his identity.

Jesus is nailed to the Cross - Valjean arrives at the trial. Note that both the trial and the crucifixion are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (Mark 15:25), although obviously the trial actually happens in the dark.

Jesus dies on the Cross - Madeleine confesses himself to be Jean Valjean, marking the death of the persona of Madeleine and this phase of his life, and saving Champmathieu. See Hugo's description of the crowd’s reaction: a silence like that of the grave." And, later: "the whole crowd, as by a sort of electric revelation, understood instantly... the simple and magnificent history of a man who was delivering himself up so that another man might not be condemned in his stead"

Jesus is taken down from the Cross - This is trickier, but I think we can read the unknown crowd member who opened the door for Valjean as Joseph of Arimathea, who took away the body of Jesus and opened the door of his own tomb for him. See the context Hugo gives here: “those who do certain sovereign things are always sure of being served by some one in the crowd.”

Jesus is laid in the tomb - The door closes behind Valjean and this section of the book ends.

[nortism]

Some additional context for those not familiar with Catholicism: this is what the stations typically look like in a Catholic Church. They’re small statues/icons, often carved from wood or stone and sometimes painted and they are hung in order around the walls of the church so worshippers can physically follow Jesus along each step and meditate on his sacrifice, sort of like a mini pilgrimage. I don’t live in a Catholic country so my church growing up wasn’t particularly ornate (it looked a lot like the 2nd picture) so the Stations of the Cross stood out as one of the few pieces of art.

They originate in the Franciscan tradition so I’m not sure if they would have been a tradition that Hugo grew up with but I’m fairly certain that he is deliberately eluding to the Stations of the Cross in Jean Valjean’s journey to Arras as Jesus falling three times (the stations with the most direct parallels in the book) don’t actually have a Biblical basis! So this does seem to be a reference to this specific Catholic tradition rather than the Bible.

[lesbianvaljean]

Hugo spends much of "A Tempest in a Skull" setting Valjean up to be crucified.

The name "Jean Valjean" is seen as a sentence in and of itself: "to ever hear that name pronounced... would be the end of all things for him." As Mellow has written the name derives from Pontius Pilate's presentation of Jesus prior to his crucifixion!

Hearing the name Jean Valjean causes a "rent veil" and an "earthquake", both associated with the death of Jesus.

Valjean is seen as dying to save another, and by that achieving new life: "to surrender himself to save that man [and] to become... Jean Valjean, that was, in truth, to achieve his resurrection."

The narrator emphasizes a binary choice between Valjean or Champmathieu ("a stranger.... whom destiny... was thrusting into the gulf in his stead") being sentenced, paralleling the choice Pilate makes between Jesus and Barabbas.

If that all weren't enough, Hugo twice explicitly compares Valjean to Jesus approaching crucifixion. First Valjean yields to a "mysterious power which said to him: 'Think!' as it said to another condemned man, two thousand years ago, 'March on!'". Then, the chapter ends with a beautiful long comparison of Valjean to Christ in Gethsemane.

So, we end Tempest in Gethsemane. Where next? Well, the Stations of the Cross, a traditional narrative of Christ's road to the cross which invites Christians to walk with Jesus from his sentencing to his burial, just like Jean Valjean is about to do.

All 14 stations, I think, show up somewhere on the road to Arras. Some of these connections are explicit, some are more tenuous — would love to hear folk's thoughts on these + any I might have missed!

There are 14 standard stations (which also would have existed in Hugo's day, although not sure about their ubiquity in French Catholicism at the time.) Lots of variations exist -- if you're curious, here's a standard liturgy and some Vatican reflections.) So these 14 certainly don't include all the possible parallels. Valjean is denied by his three convict friends, for instance, as Jesus was denied three times by Peter; in 1.7.5 Valjean eats and rejects bitter bread, which I read as a nod to Jesus tasting and rejecting the sponge of sour wine; and even Romainville references Rome, of course the empire under which Jesus was crucified. But I think the 14 give a good sense of how totally central the crucifixion narrative is.

Jesus is condemned to death - Javert is quite clear in 1.6.2 that someone will be condemned to die in prison under the name of Jean Valjean. This is expanded upon at some length by Valjean in Tempest.

Jesus takes up his Cross - Valjean begins his journey to Arras in the tilbury.

Jesus falls the first time - Valjean's first delay: the tilbury's wheel breaks.

Jesus meets his Mother - Valjean's mother does not appear here. But we do get a strange dream featuring his brother, which may represent a similar familial presence before an immense suffering. Like Jesus' mother, Valjean's brother cannot save him; he cannot even accompany him through the end of the dream.

Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross - The young boy helps Valjean find a new cart, which lets him continue his journey to Arras.

Veronica wipes the face of Jesus - We could read this as the old woman who lends Valjean her cart. The veil Veronica is said to have used to wipe Jesus' face took his image and was venerated as a relic for centuries as the true image of Jesus (Veronica means "true image"). So she is seen in the Church as a compassionate documentary witness to his suffering. I think there's a case to be made that the narrator might be taking the place of Veronica here, showing us the imprint of Valjean's suffering in the documents, like his journal, that Valjean produces.

Jesus falls for the second time - Valjean's second delay: the horse is exhausted and road work lengthens the way.

Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem - I think this station can be seen in the reaction of the courtroom spectators, who are transformed into "sympathizing hearts" as "capture all souls and turn witnesses into spectators" Certainly Jesus's reaction is appropriate: "Weep not for me but for your children"

Jesus falls for the third time - Valjean's third delay: the cart's whiffle-tree breaks.

Jesus is stripped of his garments - Valjean destroys his old clothes, in an attempt to strip himself of his identity.

Jesus is nailed to the Cross - Valjean arrives at the trial. Note that both the trial and the crucifixion are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (Mark 15:25), although obviously the trial actually happens in the dark.

Jesus dies on the Cross - Madeleine confesses himself to be Jean Valjean, marking the death of the persona of Madeleine and this phase of his life, and saving Champmathieu. See Hugo's description of the crowd’s reaction: a silence like that of the grave." And, later: "the whole crowd, as by a sort of electric revelation, understood instantly... the simple and magnificent history of a man who was delivering himself up so that another man might not be condemned in his stead"

Jesus is taken down from the Cross - This is trickier, but I think we can read the unknown crowd member who opened the door for Valjean as Joseph of Arimathea, who took away the body of Jesus and opened the door of his own tomb for him. See the context Hugo gives here: “those who do certain sovereign things are always sure of being served by some one in the crowd.”

Jesus is laid in the tomb - The door closes behind Valjean and this section of the book ends.

[memser]

i dont want a "career" i should be someone's loyal and gay dog

[lesbianvaljean]

remembering how bonkers good john le carré is at being mean. it’s a very beautiful thing

[lesbianvaljean]

ofc I’m reading tempest in a skull when I don’t have the inferno OR paradise lost w me. meanwhile this is the Epic Poetry Chapter to end em all.

[genderfeel]

When the gold rays fell on your skin And my hair got caught in the wind The choir sang a melancholic hymn (Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah) In the morning, you would be gone I'd be mourning, tryin' to hold on to the memory of your lips God, I'm so lovesick, what have you done to me?

laufey is required listening for this one :) had this song on repeat after seeing javert get his shit rocked on west end and Needed to get this concept out

[genderfeel]

@valvertweek

[breadvidence]

Subjective ranking of I.VI.II versions, chapter title “Punish Me, M. le Maire”. Judged primarily based on horniness and comedy.

1. The Brick. The silent treatment. “The strength of your loins.” “It is lucky that you recognize the fact.” The long aside about accents and the evolution of names, because Victor Hugo wrote this, which somehow does not derail the vibes. I have serious thoughts on this scene but this list is not about literary analysis, it’s about how much Javert wants to be licking M. Madeleine’s boots (to the max), Valjean opposite him with actual dom energy (present), and the lol factor (top of the line).

2. ’98. No, hear me out. Rush’s Javert despairingly tries to lead Neeson’s Valjean to the right conclusion like an experienced sub guiding a vanilla top through a scene. Neeson is bewildered. Rush exudes frustrated erotic energy. I am having flashbacks to bad hookups and dying on the inside. A+

3. A hundred different fanfic rewrites of this scene in which dicks touch. Bless y’all.

4. ’78. Perkins doesn’t bring as much frustration to the table as Rush, making this less funny, but in his defense he’s opposite Jordan, who is as vacant as a beach ball. Solid rendition regardless.

5. ’25. Faithful to the novel, but lacks spice. Best moment occurs when Gabrio gestures with open arms and Toulout looks blankly horrified, as if thinking Gabrio might go in for a hug.

6. 2012 (Hooper). I debated the ranking but this *is* a scene that launched a thousand fics, so while it seems to me that Crowe’s Javert needs aftercare more than a spanking (so wrung out), clearly fandom disagrees. Loses points for lack of comedy.

7. Stage musical. “But Bread,” you might say, “The musical doesn’t adapt this scene.” I am counting the end of “The Runaway Cart” as an honorable mention, since it still includes Javert embarrassing himself.

8. ’35. All I remember is Laughton quivering and maybe a repetition of the line about laws good, bad, and indifferent (a line which reflects such a misunderstanding of the character I can only squint). Erotic levels at 0%, not amused.

9. ’52. I have zero recollection of how the scene plays out and can’t be fucked to rewatch.

10. BBC 2018. I do recollect this scene and I wish I didn’t. I watch, I’m bewildered, Oyelowo telegraphs meaningfully into the camera, his meaning is unclear, none of the implications are derived from the source text. Oyelowo tries to look like he’s experiencing gay lust and fails. They shake hands, I clutch my pearls. -100

[breadvidence]

I've given myself heartburn reflecting on how this goofiness might misrepresent my interpretation of the novel. That's as good an excuse as any for a look at "How Jean May Become Champ", right? (Pause to appreciate that Hugo determined his ramble on accents/naming to be the essential moment to pull for a chapter title.) The intent here is not to ask "How does this scene tie into the greater symbolism, philosophy, and politics of the novel?"--there are many better places to pay close attention to for that--but "What can we conclude about these pretend people from how they're behaving?" It's a writerly and a fannish question, very useful to ask if you want to appropriate some characters and put them in new scenarios (I'm over here pretending very hard that I do not have intent to fanfic). I'm here for fun, I'm gonna toss some disjointed thoughts out here. All quotations from the Donougher.

I don't necessarily dislike but do disagree with most adaptations of this scene--and of the characters' dynamic overall, for that matter. Some of this is that most overdetermine (dramatically!) the degree to which Jean Valjean and Javert are demonstrated to have a personal relationship. For one, there's no textual evidence for their direct interaction in Toulon (though all respect to fanfic writers who fill that particular gap, and there's good narrative sense in pro adaptations to include scenes in which we see Javert take special notice). In I.V.V through I.V.VII what gets established is a kind of mutual suffering (though, because Valjean is fucked up, "blissful" on his side) conducted at a distance. By 1823, on Javert's part this has become outright avoidance--it seems his active investigation in I.V.V has run out of leads, the ?convict-as-mayor situation gives him the shudders, cognitive dissonance will kill him someday and he's coping here by removing himself from the question. In I.V.XIII, I see nothing to indicate these are two people who know each other well--not at all to the degree of being able to predict each other's behavior, for certain!

Fanfic wants to dig into them as a relationship, so they interact more; fine. Film has to ratchet up the tension to sell Javert as the primary antagonist, and that requires extra interaction just as much as fucking does. IIRC the '52 and BBC 2018 both particularly lean into Javert as being very present in Valjean's life as an active investigator/threat (with the BBC 2018 carrying that thread through I.VI.II, to my pain). The text says nah. I'd say they are walking into I.VI.II as two people who, after knowing each other for four years, have managed to develop a lot of emotion around each other rather than with each other. To be fair, the degree of emotion in Javert's case is at a melodramatic pitch to the tune of a "great inner cataclysm". Comedically, Valjean's amounts to "a disagreeable impression".

(Which, speaking of comedy--there's a specific genre of humor the crux of which is this: that the audience knows something, and the butt of the joke doesn't. Hugo is telling one of those numbers at Javert's expense. There's something here to do with Javert's attempts to raise himself authority or dignity, and how the narrative and the plot both undermine him every time; it's pointed, pathetic, a little cathartic. The agent of state violence pratfalls.)

Which--all right, sure, you can argue that Javert has actually done a number on Jean Valjean, relative to the impact people normally have. Even when under active surveillance by a clear threat, Valjean acted with "unassuming kindness" (I.V.V). He approaches the conflict in I.V.XIII in a respectful mode, he's even conciliatory ("You're an honest man, and I've no objection to explaining myself to you", he says to Javert--which, by the by, honesty isn't resounding praise in Les Misérables, and I don't believe this is a sincere compliment anyway; I think it's a tactic, flattery, aimed at diverting Javert). Ultimately, his patience breaks when confronted with the persistence of Javert's fuckery--we get that "stern voice that no one in the town had heard up till now"--and it looks like Valjean is still in that zone several weeks later. We will not see him find another human being distasteful until Marius shows up. "Annoyed enough to be rude" might not be a very dramatic emotional pitch, but it's unusual? He even stoops to be wittily derogatory (his agreement, "It's a good thing you admit it", with the assessment that Javert is mad). He does sort himself out enough to try again to conciliate a person who can't be conciliated (which--I once more do not read his compliment here, "You're a man of honour and I respect you", as at all sincere--besides the fact that we saw Valjean behave disrespectfully two pages ago, the confrontation with Fantine has proved that Javert isn't a man of honor, and his throwing himself on the sword over a personal error doesn't seem like it ought to be enough to sway Valjean's opinion on the matter).

The "dom energy" I jokingly referred to in the above post has nothing to do with actual actual reciprocated erotic intent, for the record--to be serious about it, it's to do with Valjean's complete control over the situation. On the other hand I am completely sincere about Javert's boot-licking, it is one of his primary characteristics.

A further two disconnected thoughtlets:

Can't tell whether Javert's "Why, I thought I told monsieur le maire the case was to be tried to be tried tomorrow and that I'm taking the coach tonight" is his being polite, or if he's so caught up in his authority figure related self-gaslighting as to believe he didn't say that.

And: I don't know how to take Valjean's list of chores he tries to impose on Javert, from a practical implication perspective. Seems like legit police inspector business, but is it habitual that a mayor would be communicating those tasks to one? Is it their habit? How does that square with the avoidance and weeks-long gaps in interacting? Are these tasks normally handed out via intermediary? Is this why all the fic writers think Javert makes a weekly report? Inquiring minds etc.

And that's quite enough.

[secretmellowblog]

I’ve mentioned this before, but I love how insincere Jean Valjean is whenever he interacts with Javert in Montreuil-sur-Mer. Whenever Jean Valjean compliments Javert, it’s never reflective of his true feelings; it’s always just empty insincere polite flattery he’s using in an effort to get Javert to behave the way he wants (usually to get Javert to stop talking, stop being suspicious of him, and go away.)

When Jean Valjean is actually alone and thinking honestly about how he feels about Javert, during Tempest in a Skull, he refers to him as “that Javert, who has been annoying me so long (…) that frightful hunting dog!” And enthusiastically hopes he will leave town. Jean Valjean is described as “glacial” to him, resenting his cruelty towards Fantine.

When Jean Valjean insists at the police station that Javert is an honest man and proper police wouldn’t arrest Fantine, he doesn’t actually believe that— Jean Valjean knows, from experience, what proper policework means. He has been on the receiving end of “proper policework” all of his life. Fantine is legally “in the wrong” and proper police would arrest her, it’s just that the laws are vile. Jean Valjean is just lying and saying whatever thing he thinks will manipulate Javert into letting Fantine go; he knows Javert wants to do policework properly, so he pretends that a proper police officer would let Fantine go. It doesn’t work, because both he and Javert understand that this is not the truth, and a proper police officer *would* arrest a sex worker who violently assaulted a wealthy man. As a result, when his polite conciliatory bootlicking fails, Jean Valjean eventually needs to fall back on using his Authority as mayor to force Javert to leave Fantine alone.

But again, the funniest way this manifests is during the scene where Javert attempts to have himself fired.

Because Jean Valjean spends most of the scene dissociating, panicking over the revelation about Champmathieu, wrapped up in his own head, not really thinking about Javert at all and barely listening to him. Then he attempts to say whatever empty polite nothings will end the conversation without raising Javert’s suspicions. This is something we’re later told is something he’s doing solely out of terror of “the great danger” of Javert’s presence.

Jean Valjean doesn’t really think Javert is a “good man” who he “esteems.” He just wants the conversation to be over without arousing any suspicion, so he treats Javert with empty bootlicking deferential (unsuspicious) politeness.

…but sadly, this is the wrong Dialogue Option. Jean Valjean then becomes helplessly trapped in a series of Unskippable Javert Cutscenes.

Jean Valjean is trying to treat Javert with this bland indifferent (unsuspicious) politeness in order to end the conversation quickly and unsuspiciously, and Javert responds by going on a series of longed passionate Deranged tangents where he pulls out a Pepe Silvia conspiracy board and explains why the concept of kindness enrages him.

It’s very powerful.

[secretmellowblog]

Kinda don’t agree w this take because if Valjean wanted to really be dismissive, he could just… dismiss Javert, like he’s asking? — like, this is before Valjean even has his internal battle about Arras; he’s still very survival-minded. If he really wanted to, he coulda just rolled with it and fired Javert, but he doesn’t even THINK to do so. I think this scene is more-so supposed to be ironic for the reader, and not an intentional instance of Valjean choosing to mock Javert with insincerity.

(Reply by @0zzysaurus! Thank you for the reply! :D)

Yeah Jean Valjean not mocking Javert with insincerity— he’s flattering Javert in order to avoid suspicion! This is made pretty explicit in a following chapter.

In Tempest in a Skull, we’re told what Javert’s resignation looked like from Jean Valjean’s point of view:

(Jean Valjean) was carried away, at first, by the instinct of self-preservation; he rallied all his ideas in haste, stifled his emotions, took into consideration Javert’s presence, that great danger, postponed all decision with the firmness of terror, shook off thought as to what he had to do, and resumed his calmness as a warrior picks up his buckler.

Pretending he wants Javert to continue working for him is an act of self-preservation. his apparent calmness and politeness is a a shield against the “great danger” Javert represents. It’s not an act of sincere emotion; it’s something he does while “stifling his emotions” in “terror” and desperately trying to appear as unsuspicious as possible. After all, an innocent Mayor Madeleine would invite Javert to stay. An innocent Mayor Madeleine would have nothing to fear from the police. The most unsuspicious thing for him to do is praise Javert’s policework, and so he does. It does not reflect his true feelings.

In Tempest in a Skulll, we learn Jean Valjean actually really wants Javert to leave town, and that he finds Javert deeply frightening and annoying. He hopes for Javert to quit his job and leave despite all the polite flattering lies he said in the prior scene:

“That Javert, who has been annoying me so long; that terrible instinct which seemed to have divined me, which had divined me—good God! and which followed me everywhere; that frightful hunting-dog, always making a point at me, is thrown off the scent, engaged elsewhere, absolutely turned from the trail: henceforth he is satisfied; he will leave me in peace; he has his Jean Valjean. Who knows? it is even probable that he will wish to leave town! And all this has been brought about without any aid from me, and I count for nothing in it! Ah! but where is the misfortune in this?”

It’s interesting to compare Jean Valjean’s behavior to Javert before and after the Champmathieu stuff is revealed. Before it’s revealed, when Jean Valjean feels like he’s safe, we’re told he is “glacial” towards Javert— openly resenting him for his mistreatment of Fantine. He even makes a “disagreeable expression” the moment his name is announced as a visitor. It’s only after Javert reveals he has denounced him for being Jean Valjean, and he becomes terrified of discovery, that he gradually starts being overly polite to Javert again.

I generally believe that the way Jean Valjean thinks about Javert when he’s alone, or when he’s not afraid of being punished for expressing his emotions, is a better gauge of his true feelings than the things he says to Javert when he’s terrified of being found out.

I mentioned in another post that Jean Valjean is compelling because he’s genuinely kind, gentle, sweet, loving, pacifistic, and empathetic….but he’s also often forced into situations where he *has* to be excessively deferential to avoid punishment. Jean Valjean often shows pity for people who have hurt him—but he’s also often forced to “stifle his emotions” and act overly polite to people who hurt him, because if he doesn’t, he will be subjected to severe horrible pain.

And there are a lot of interesting complex emotions in that! the scene in the police station with Fantine is a good showcase of the difference between Jean Valjean being excessively polite to avoid confrontation vs Jean Valjean being genuinely empathetic.

When Jean Valjean speaks to Javert in the police station, he is just being polite, flattering Javert, telling Javert whatever things he thinks will make Javert let Fantine go. when that manipulation doesn’t work, he drops the act, puts on an air of authority, and coldly orders Javert to stop.

In contrast, the moment Javert leaves, Jean Valjean immediately becomes more outwardly emotional. He’s no longer “stifling his emotions” and being hyper-polite. When he speaks to Fantine, his voice sounds as if he’s “on the point of weeping;” everything he says is unpolished, raw, and achingly sincere. It’s a contrast to the careful, well-rehearsed and official politeness he has towards Javert.

I like to compare Jean Valjean’s behavior to Javert in these scenes, to the way you behave to an armed cop who pulls you over. Jean Valjean shows excessive respect for the law because if he doesn’t, the law can and will hurt him. Jean Valjean is so excessively hyper-polite to Javert, lying that he respects him and respects the police and wants Javert to continue working for him, because he has a gun pointed at his head— and if he expresses the wrong emotions that gun will fire.

I think it’s noteworthy that (iirc) the only times Jean Valjean explicitly “praises” policework are in scenes where he’s talking to Javert and attempting to appear unsuspicious. it’s like when a cop pulls you over, and you praise him for the Noble Service a Cop Like Him Does For the Community while looking nervously at his holstered gun. And it makes sense Jean Valjean really only praises police in situations like this! Jean Valjean does not have a good relationship with the law XD.

Tl; dr: I have a lot of emotions about Jean Valjean’s complicated relationship to kindness and politeness. I also think his relationship with Javert becomes a million times funnier when you realize he doesn’t care about Javert at all, beyond maybe the vague impersonal pity he feels for every human being on the earth. Javert is just the Cop Who Happened to Recognize him, and any other cop who recognized him would terrify him equally.

(Also to anyone reading this: we’ve been talking about this a lot in the Les Mis Letters discord server; feel free to join! )

[alicedrawslesmis]

Mr. Mayor, I do not desire that you should treat me kindly; your kindness roused sufficient bad blood in me when it was directed to others. I want none of it for myself. The kindness which consists in upholding a woman of the town against a citizen, the police agent against the mayor, the man who is down against the man who is up in the world, is what I call false kindness.

great guy

[lesbianvaljean]

big fan of all the stone metaphors in recent chapters btw. simplice is granite... fantine is marble... javert is marble AND granite... much to ponder

[lesbianvaljean]

reading les mis and moby dick at the same time has really made me appreciate their handling of digressions.... hugo will say "this detail has no connection whatever with the real substance of what we are about to relate" and give you sixty pages of Critical Thematic Development... melville will tell you a chapter is "almost indispensable to a thorough appreciative understanding of the more special leviathanic revelations and allusions of all sorts which are to follow" and then drop several thousand words of Whale Math

[lesbianvaljean]

Simplice imo has easily one of the Genders of All Time among les mis characters

[everyonewasabird]

Brickclub 1.7.1 ‘Sister Simplice’

We have another pairing like Baptistine-Magloire in Simplice and Perpetue. The parallel is clear, and also Hugo is being weird about peasants again.

I suspect his point is pretty valid when he talks about how being a nun just is one of the forms of work available to peasant women and so there are at least two extremely distinct paths to the convent. But the talk of “peasant clay” being “formed” and her being a “tallow candle” is veering close to the idea that peasants are made of less refined material than other people. And even if Hugo (as I think there’s a decent chance of!) actually mostly meant upbringing and education, it’s still a vision of peasants as tragic blank slates who should be colonized by the education system of the dominant culture for their own good.

There are some Problems with that.

Simplice sounds initially like Baptistine, down to her physical description and the idea that holiness and avoidance of worldly things makes women not women. Hugo has mixed feelings about nuns (see the dig about how peasant ignorance prepared them for this life) and he’ll tell us a lot more about that later, but there’s something wonderfully active and chosen about Simplice’s discipline and kindness and who she’s decided to be in the world that most female characters in the brick don’t get to show.

(Is this because she gave up womanhood to be a nun? Alas, I wish I could say definitively, “no, that would be extremely stupid” but. Hugo.)

As her description goes on, she starts to resemble not just meek and obedient  Baptistine–who acquiesced to her life more than she sought it out–but actually Myriel’s choices about how to serve the world. In Simplice’s two pleasures which she gave up (good food and writing letters) she feels like a cross between the two of them.

I love the free indirect speech passage that isn’t immediately signposted as such about how Lying Is The Very Worst. It sounds semi-plausibly like one of Hugo’s own rants until he adds the “so she thought” to the end of the passage. I feel like he’s setting up suspense about the moral question of lying, and he hasn’t entirely tipped his hand yet about what an extremely pro-lying book this is.

I love that Simplice gets a character arc.

And we’re being gently set up for the storm. I really like how mild the chapter falling the thunderbolt is–it’s building suspense, but in very small things. We don’t *know* that Madeleine is dying inside… though we may be very strongly wondering.

[secretmellowart]

There is a spectacle more grand than the sea; it is heaven: there is a spectacle more grand than heaven; it is the inmost recesses of the soul.

In Les Miserables Jean Valjean spends years living under the alias of Madeleine, as a reference to Mary Magdalene. I’ve painted Madeleine and stinging nettles for the faith and fate theme of @valvertweek.

[threadbaremillionaire]

Kinda went overboard on this sketch, but here’s Valjean!

[cliozaur]

Three variations of "One Mother Meets Another Mother"