2.8.6
This is a short chapter moving plot along. We saw things from the outside from Fauchelevant’s perspective, now we see them from Valjean’s.
Valjean’s calmness really bothers me. It is linked to his ex-convict character and also to the atmosphere of being buried, but I still cannot understand how he manages to remain so calm and did not even consider any other scenario where this could all go wrong? Even if Mestienne had been alive, something else could have happened.
Anyone else in his position, trapped in the box, with very little air to breathe, very little chance to see what is going outside, would not be this calm. How can he hear and know of things going outside and that they have crossed one gate and come to another? He must have even more superpowers that we have not heard of before. The only thing that suggests to me is that this plan to enter the convent, save himself and educate Cosette is supported by Providence and therefore the very odd levels of calmness. Although maybe it’s because, now that he is in the coffin, there’s not much else he can do, so he might as well stay calm and relax and focus on getting out in an hour. But we know this is not happening, because we know that Mestienne is dead and Gribiers does not want to drink and Valjean does not have that information. I do like that this is getting more complicated and it still manages to keep the tension in the scene despite us knowing the result.
It is interesting that Valjean’s entry into the convent starts with a burial and something close to a resurrection/ being brought back to life. Not at all subtle allusions that. It isn’t surprising though that four large spadefuls of earth would cause him to lose consciousness, despite the fact that he is a strongman as Hugo mentions again.
