Love Through An Old Man
The Bishop:
The Bishop of Digne is a minor character who has a major impact on the plot of the story. He is a man of the church who sees a disgruntled, disturbed and struggling Jean Valjean and takes him in off of the street. He is generous to Valjean, but out of his hatred for the world, Valjean steals from the bishop. When caught by the local police, another feature of the bishop's personality is shown when he lies to the police to save Valjean. The bishop's overall meaning is realized when he warns Valjean to use the money he has obtained to "become an honest man". Through the bishop's kindness, generosity and advice, Valjean finds God and changes his life to become the benevolent man we see from this point forward in the story. His love was for everyone, but Jean Valjean had no love in his heart, when the bishop gave him the silver, he also gave him love.
Fantine:
A working-class Parisian, Fantine becomes pregnant after a fleeting love affair with a rich student who abandons her.
Left to look after her child, Cosette, on her own, Fantine travels to Montfermeil where she meets the innkeepers, The Thenardiers, and asks them to take in Cosette so she can work to support her daughter.At the factory, a fellow worker exposes Fantine for sending money to her illegitimate child and the vengeful foreman, whose advances were previously rejected by Fantine, throws her out on the street.
Without a cent to her name, Fantine's only resort for survival is to sell her locket, flowing locks and eventually her body. Fending off an abusive customer, Fantine is arrested by Javert but Valjean steps in to demand her release. On her deathbed, Fantine pleads with Valjean to find and look after Cosette. Her love for Cosette is so much she gives her life away so Cosette is cared for. Even though she does not know Cosette is actually being treated harshly. She gave everything away for Cosette, love at it's greatest.
Jean Valjean:
"Jean Valjean was still by Cosette’s bedside; he watched there motionless, waiting for her to wake. Some new thing had come into his soul. Jean Valjean had never loved anything; for twenty-five years he had been alone in the world. He had never been father, lover, husband, friend. In the prison he had been vicious, gloomy, chaste, ignorant, and shy. . . .
When he saw Cosette, when he had taken possession of her, carried her off, and delivered her, he felt his heart moved within him. All the passion and affection within him awoke, and rushed towards that child. He approached the bed, where she lay sleeping, and trembled with joy. He suffered all the pangs of a mother, and he knew not what it meant; for that great and singular movement of a heart which begins to love is a very obscure and a very sweet thing. Poor old man, with a perfectly new heart! Only, as he was five and fifty, and Cosette eight years of age, all that might have been love in the whole course of his life flowed together into a sort of ineffable light.
It was the second white apparition which he had encountered. The Bishop had caused the dawn of virtue to rise on his horizon; Cosette caused the dawn of love to rise." His love for Cosette is selfless, regardless of the danger of himself. All through the book she is his one thought. He does everything so she will be happy.
Cosette:
At first she is fearful then her heart opens like a blossom. As soon as the sun's warmth touches it's tender petals, it unfurls itself in all its delicate glory. Such was the case with Jean Valjean and Cosette. His newfound love and virtue were all directed at her like the sun, and she opened her petals for him alone. The Thenardiers were cruel and abusive, with no love for Cosette and her craving for love was completely filled by Jean Valjean.
As she grew she was unaware what love, true affectionate love was. She was brought up in a convent, the nuns there taught her about the love of God, not the love of a man and a woman. Her "father" Jean Valjean was with her every day at the convent. And as she grew he was inseparable from her. When they moved away from the convent, he would go for walks and finally he let her come along. They would walk to the Luxembourg gardens and sit on a bench for hours. It was here that she was introduced to affectionate love.
Marius:
Marius was a young man handsome but completely unaware of the young ladies that fancied him. He grew up away from his father his only remaining parent, living with his rich grandfather. Early on, he does not very much like his father, Colonel Georges Pontmercy, because he believes his father has abandoned him to his grandfather. In reality, his grandfather told his father that Marius would be disinherited if his father had any contact with him. Marius is ordered to write his father once a month, but his grandfather pockets all the replies without ever showing them to Marius. Shortly after Marius turns eighteen, Gillenormand tells him to visit the Colonel. Although he could have left that night and taken a public carriage straight there, Marius waits until the morning and takes two connecting public carriages to get there. He arrives seconds after his father's death. Marius isn't really bothered by the death, since he still believes that his father never wanted to see him and never bothered to write to him. Marius discovers a note written by his father instructing Marius to help Thénardier in any way possible, since the Colonel believes that Thénardier saved his life at the Battle of Waterloo.
While visiting church, Mabeuf, the church warden, tells Marius that his father has been coming to mass regularly, hiding behind a pillar so as to not violate the agreement and cause his son to be disinherited. Marius is strongly touched by this proof that it was actually his grandfather who had been keeping them apart. He starts looking up his father in the official military histories and after learning that his father was a highly decorated veteran, intrinsically involved in numerous wars in Napoleon's army and had been made a baron and a colonel by Napoleon Bonaparte, although neither the baronetcy nor the rank of colonel is recognized by the current regime. As a consequence, Marius develops an idol-worship of his father. After an argument with his grandfather, Marius moves out and refuses financial assistance from his family. His grandfather instructs Marius' aunt to send Marius a good amount of money every month, but Marius always returns it. His aunt never reports this to Gillenormand.
His love for his dead father is incredible and respectful. His love for his Grandfather is slowly diminished. But his love for Cosette is unmatched.
