“But Jean Valjean is a sly fellow. And that’s just where I recognize him. Anybody else would realize he was in hot water, and rant and rave, as the teakettle sings on the fire; he would say that he was not Jean Valjean, et cetera. But this man pretends not to understand; he says, ‘I am Champmathieu; I have no more to say.’ He puts on a look of surprise; he plays dumb. Oh, that one is cunning!”
(Vol. I, Book VI, II “How Jean can become Champ”)
He did not go through the usual ceremony; he made no speeches; he showed no warrant. To him Jean Valjean was a sort of mysterious and intangible antagonist, a shadowy wrestler with whom he had been struggling for five years, without being able to throw him.
(Vol. I, Book VIII, IV “Authority gains its power”)
it never fails to crack me up that javert believes valjean is some sort of criminal mastermind. because he very much isn’t.
this is a guy who took on a new identity but kept some obvious mementos from his past. and then he used his connections to look for his family of origin, which is literally one of the clues javert has as to why madeleine would be valjean!
i think it also goes to show that while javert is one of few people who truly knows valjean, he doesn’t truly know valjean, you know what i mean? by insisting that valjean is some sort of criminal mastermind, javert ascribes a nefariousness to him that just isn’t there. and it’s very in line with javert’s thinking, that crime is a type of rebellion against authority; it’s never born out of need, it is only ever intentional and therefore inexcusable.