#1.8.4

After all the Doctor says:

"If by some good fortune the mayor really should come back tomorrow with the child, who knows? Some crises are so strange. We've seen diseases instantly cured by great joy; I know very well that this is an organic disease, and far advanced, but it is all a mystery! Perhaps we will save her!"

And think about how Fantine died. There was nothing peaceful about it. Her last emotions were shock and fear, possibly betrayal. Shock at Valjean's true identity, at the violence with which Javert treats Valjean. Fear that she might be arrested again, that she'll never see her child again. Betrayal that Valjean lied about bringing Cosette back to see Fantine.

Not to mention the visceral way her death is described:

"Fantine sat upright, supporting herself on her rigid arms and hands; she looked at Jean Valjean, then at Javert, and then at the nun; she opened her mouth as if to speak; a guttural sound came from her throat, her teeth clamped shut, she stretched out her arms in anguish, convulsively spreading her fingers, and groping like someone drowning; then suddenly fell back against the pillow.

Her head struck the head of the bed and fell forward on her breast, the mouth gaping, the eyes open and glazed.

She was dead."

I understand why the musical wanted to give Fantine some happiness at the end of her short and tragic life. But I think that Hugo makes an incredibly powerful point by having Fantine's death be as cruel and preventable as her miserable life.

This is such a telling chapter title. This is not Justice or Law, this is Authority. In Javert’s mind, the two are one and the same, as we’ve seen, but in Hugo’s mind they’re very much not, and he always makes sure to separate them out. Sometimes he humors Javert’s point of view, like he did last chapter, but here he’s done playing. What happens in this room has nothing to do with Justice or with Truth, it just has to do with Power.

“In his eyes Jean Valjean was a kind of mysterious and elusive combatant, a sinister opponent with whom he had been wrestling for the past five years without ever being able to fell him.”

I really like this sentence, because it’s a nice counter to Valjean’s earlier inner fights between shadowy figures. For Jean Valjean, the conflict is within his mind, between the good and the evil within his own nature. For Javert, who doesn’t allow himself any inner conflict, that same conflict is between himself and other people, in this case Jean Valjean.

So poor Fantine has another moment of bluescreen as her brain just can’t process what’s happening. Tragically, she does process that, whatever else might be going on, Cosette is not here. And I am heartbroken that she had to have that one more blow before she died. Everything else wasn’t enough, there had to be that one more knife twisted into her soul. She doesn’t even die believing that Cosette is near.

We get a return to drowning imagery as she dies, which continues to be Hugo’s most consistent metaphor.

After Fantine dies, Jean Valjean makes it extremely clear that Javert is only arresting him because Valjean is allowing him to do so, and goes to pray by Fantine’s body. And we’re specifically told that Sister Simplice, the woman whom we know does not lie, ever, saw Fantine’s lips twitch into a smile.

1.8.4

Fantine has no way of knowing why Javert is here and she thinks he is here for her, which coupled with the brisk news harshly delivered about Cosette, makes her lose all hope and heart. It makes sense to her that he would be here for her, in the way he is used to addressing her in the past with the 'tu' which causes her to become flustered and recalls the traumatic episode where she was nearly arrested.

On the other hand, the narrative saying, “From now on we shall refer to him as Valjean” is really a confirmation that Madeleine is dead, the name that Valjean wanted to live under respectably, even though Fantine still thinks of him that way.

Javert, described as a beast in the last chapter is still speaking very much like a beast, eager to take Valjean. He doesn’t even bother with any explanations. Even his conversations to Valjean and Fantine are brusque. He feels above them, they are not important, no deference needs to be shown to them and no sympathy. His disregard for how he usually does things and for order, also shows that he is excited to capture Valjean, even if he does not show it on his face. He is more a beast than human in this chapter.

He’s also too impatient in trying to restore the order of things as he feels it should be in society and so hears none of their pleas. I do like that Valjean uses his super strength to help Fantine in her last moments and keep Javert away though he does not use it for himself here. He whispers something to Fantine, causing her a last moment of happiness, or maybe she’s smiling from beyond – it is very Romantic.

Fantine is dead though, and everything hurts and Javert is indirectly responsible for it with his callous disregard for her illness and causing her trauma, though he feels no remorse for his actions.

1.8.5

This chapter continues the theme of what is said about people mattering more than their good deeds. The gossip associated with Valjean’s arrest is enough for everyone to forget all the good that he did, anyone who might have supported him, talks about as if they knew he was bad all along. Nobody cares enough to learn his real name as well, they are reinforcing the attitudes of the society towards convicts as well.

I do love that the old door keeper, from habit, still does everything as if she is expecting his arrival. Hugo does the whole thing where it seems as if he is reporting or recollecting the events later on, and it seems like he is reporting from the documents written up by the police.

He leaves the money for the priest for Fantine’s funeral and the expenses of his own trial. The priest keeps most of it for the poor and Fantine is only left with a poor grave, the priest in his bias does not think that Fantine deserved a better funeral than that and that breaks my heart. The priest apparently is not subscribed to Bishop Myriel’s school of thought. In her burial too, she does not get the dignity that she deserved and that is heartbreaking.