Thenardier draws up an exaggerated bill and Hugo also compares it to the Congress of Vienna giving a huge bill for France to pay. I like these little bits of history interposed between the pages of the characters’ lives. @akallabeth-joie mentioned characters as symbolisms and I can see that in some way here as well, if Cosette symbolises the future and hope of France, then this is also another Congress of Vienna, this bartering for her in this chapter, while it is obviously also utterly gross on Thenardier’s part.
Anyway, Thenardier draws up a huge bill for Valjean’s stay and Madame Thenardier is jealous of the fact that little Cosette has a new doll. It is probably the fact that the new doll symbolises hope and happiness that Cosette has not known ever since she has lived with the Thenardiers and Madame Thenardier seems to not be able to see Cosette happy, so she is determined to turn her out. I do find it amusing that Madame Thenardier would rather be in bed with Louis XVIII than be willing to keep Cosette for one more day. These chapters are so political and symbolic andt I really love this bit. It’s also funnier if they are as Graham Robb says in the bio, representative of Louis-Napoleon III, which I choose to think that they are, that they would rather collaborate with the monarchists at any turn that they find the things to not be working for them and I’ve been watching Victor Hugo- Enemy of the State and this is sort of what Louis Napoleon does, he has a parliament full of Legitimists who oppose anything sensible that the Republicans or the Moderates like Hugo propose.
But to get back to the story, Thenardier is greedy and raises the rent considerably, I find it amusing that Thenardier is called a brilliant actor and in the next instant tells Valjean that he adores Cosette, which no one would believe, considering everything that Valjean has observed of the situation.
Cosette’s situation is a lot like Valjean’s in prison, and it says so much about her character and the light shining from within her, that she hasn’t lost hope, she hasn’t turned to hatred, and maybe he recognises that in the way he tells Thenardier this. Thenardier meanwhile as @pilferingapples has pointed out before, has considered whether Valjean- this unknown man who probably has no connection to Cosette and has suddenly taken a fancy to her is going to use her/groom her as a child labourer or as a prostitute, it’s also a fate that Eponine and Azelma will share later on and since such things were common, not very surprising for Thenardier to come to that conclusion.
From Cosette’s perspective though Valjean is a saint/angel for her. She only needed one person to treat her kindly, to care for her. She is no longer afraid because there is someone for her and that gives me so much hope for the kind of person she is- very much like Fantine – can deal with the world as long as she has a little help and I know I keep saying that, but I really love her so much. Just the change in her attitude is so remarkable here.
I hate that no one in the town recognises her, now that she is in mourning garb and not in her usual rags, she does seem to be the child whom everyone is used to seeing poor and wretched and she really is very much an Omelas child. But the good news is that Cosette is being rescued from the wicked stepmother and is free to start her life, no wonder she looks at the sky and her big eyes have something else other than fear in them, I’m not surprised she also looks at Valjean as being in the presence of the Good Lord – besides the obvious comparisons to Valjean as Jesus, there has been something of Providence in their first encounter in the woods.
The Thenardiers’ further greed after having satisfied his debts, reminds me of other stories where if you are too greedy it bites back on you. Tolstoy also wrote a short story titled ‘How much land does a man require’ and when the man gets too greedy, he dies, and they bury him in a 6-foot plot of land.
Though in this case it might have turned in Thenardier’s favour had Thenardier remembered to bring his gun. Valjean is strong and powerful and Thenardier is no match for him but with a gun and Valjean wanting to protect Cosette, who knows how that might have turned out?
I still feel that Valjean giving more and more money to Thenardiers each time wasn’t the wisest decision, but I also don’t see how he would have done it without paying 1500 francs at least, so I am a bit torn on that, but here Valjean demonstrates that he could do the math perfectly and calculate the entirety of Fantine’s debt and her payment while walking and talking, and it might have been nice had he used that tactic from the start.
Thenardier is compared to a wolf and a fox in this chapter, the animal imagery drives home how sneaky and unscrupulous he is, as well as a hunter on the trail of Valjean and Cosette. Valjean tries to hide in his usual manner but still lets Thenardier follow him till the point he looks at Thenardier with sinister eyes and Thenardier slinks back into the forest like a fox licking his wounds when its prey have escaped.
