Les Misérables · Chapter
To Confide Is Sometimes to Deliver Into a Person’s Power explained
Jean Valjean, now living under the alias Ultime Fauchelevent, confides in Father Fauchelevent about his need to escape the convent with Cosette.
What happens
Jean Valjean, now living under the alias Ultime Fauchelevent, confides in Father Fauchelevent about his need to escape the convent with Cosette. The old gardener devises a plan to smuggle Valjean out in a coffin, relying on the gravedigger's absence. The plan succeeds, allowing Valjean and Cosette to leave the convent safely.
Themes in this chapter
Redemption and Transformation
Valjean's escape from the convent marks another step in his transformation, leaving behind a life of hiding to embrace a new identity.
Suffering and Sacrifice
The plan to hide in a coffin symbolizes the extreme sacrifices Valjean is willing to make for Cosette's safety.
Characters to notice
- Jean Valjean
Confides in Father Fauchelevent about his need to escape the convent with Cosette.
- Father Fauchelevent
Devises and executes the plan to smuggle Valjean out of the convent in a coffin.
- Cosette
Is smuggled out of the convent alongside Valjean.
- Mother Crucifixion
The reverend mother who agrees to let Valjean leave the convent.
Key passages
“To confide is sometimes to deliver into a person's power.”
Trusting someone with a secret can give them control over you.
The chapter's title reflects the risk Valjean takes in revealing his identity to Fauchelevent.