Les Misérables · Chapter
Attraction and Extinction explained
In 1833, an old man dressed in black walks daily through the Marais toward the Rue des Filles-du-Calvaire, his gaze fixed on a distant point.
What happens
In 1833, an old man dressed in black walks daily through the Marais toward the Rue des Filles-du-Calvaire, his gaze fixed on a distant point. As he approaches, his eyes light up with joy, but he hesitates, trembling and weeping. Over time, he shortens his route, stops going as far, and eventually his tears cease, his eye grows dim, and he becomes a hollow figure, mocked by children.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Sacrifice
The old man's daily pilgrimage and gradual withdrawal reflect a quiet, profound suffering and the sacrifice of hope.
The Human Condition and Fate
The old man's mechanical, diminishing walks and his resigned 'What is the use?' embody the human struggle with fate and the inevitability of decline.
Characters to notice
- Jean Valjean
The old man in black, walking daily toward the Rue des Filles-du-Calvaire, his joy fading as he shortens his route and his tears dry up.
Key passages
“The nearer he approached the corner of the street the more his eye lighted up; a sort of joy illuminated his pupils like an inward aurora, he had a fascinated and much affected air, his lips indulged in obscure movements, as though he were talking to someone whom he did not see, he smiled vaguely and advanced as slowly as possible.”
As he neared the corner, his eyes brightened with a joy like an inner dawn; he seemed entranced, moving his lips as if speaking to an unseen person, smiling faintly and walking as slowly as he could.
Describes the old man's intense, almost mystical attraction to the street corner.
“Then a tear, which had slowly gathered in the corner of his lids, and had become large enough to fall, trickled down his cheek, and sometimes stopped at his mouth. The old man tasted its bitter flavor.”
A tear formed in the corner of his eye, grew until it fell, and rolled down his cheek, sometimes pausing at his lips where he tasted its bitterness.
Captures the moment of sorrow as he gazes at the forbidden street.
“One would have said that he was a pendulum which was no longer wound up, and whose oscillations were growing shorter before ceasing altogether.”
He seemed like an unwound pendulum, its swings getting shorter until they stop completely.
Metaphor for the old man's gradual withdrawal and loss of purpose.