I read an unabridged translation of Les Miserables, which means I began my experience with a fifty page meditation on a character who goes by the name “Father Bienvenu, as his parish refers to him. Father Bienvenu, the Bishop of a diocese by the time we encounter him, was impoverished by the Revolution, but remains self-sufficient if not wealthy. He devotes his life and his income to doing good in his parish, and while the character dies early in the novel, this good man’s moral and upright life sets the stage for Jean Valjean’s narrative journey.
Father Bienvenu gives Jean Valjean his first place to sleep after he completes his sentence. Valjean, we see, is rejected by all because of his convict’s yellow passport (an identification card).
Despairing of finding a place to stay, Valjean settles down to spend his night in a public square. Father Bienvenu’s. kindness isn’t immediately transformative, a cruel world has left its mark and Jean Valjean defaults to his baser side. But Father Bienvenu’s steady kindness has its intended impact, transforming Valjean into a man who strives to do good in the world throughout the narrative despite steady persecution by the judicial system and the French people, who are shaped by their imperfect society.
QOTD: What is one character in a novel who emblematizes goodness?
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Father Bienvenu gives Jean Valjean his first place to sleep after he completes his sentence. Valjean, we see, is rejected by all because of his convict’s yellow passport (an identification card).
Despairing of finding a place to stay, Valjean settles down to spend his night in a public square. Father Bienvenu’s. kindness isn’t immediately transformative, a cruel world has left its mark and Jean Valjean defaults to his baser side. But Father Bienvenu’s steady kindness has its intended impact, transforming Valjean into a man who strives to do good in the world throughout the narrative despite steady persecution by the judicial system and the French people, who are shaped by their imperfect society.
QOTD: What is one character in a novel who emblematizes goodness?
#bookstodon #bookstagram #books #bookish #classicscommunity #classicnovel #lesmiserables #victorhugo #cozyreading
