Les Misérables · Chapter
IX: New Troubles explained
Upon his release from the galleys, Jean Valjean initially feels a ray of hope and freedom, but quickly realizes that his yellow passport condemns him to continued persecution.
What happens
Upon his release from the galleys, Jean Valjean initially feels a ray of hope and freedom, but quickly realizes that his yellow passport condemns him to continued persecution. He is cheated of his earnings and denied fair wages, learning that liberation does not mean true deliverance.
Themes in this chapter
Social Injustice and Poverty
Jean Valjean is systematically robbed of his earnings and denied fair wages due to his status as an ex-convict.
Suffering and Sacrifice
Valjean endures continued suffering and exploitation even after his legal sentence ends.
Characters to notice
- Jean Valjean
Newly freed from the galleys, he experiences the bitter reality of his yellow passport and is cheated of his wages at Grasse.
Key passages
“Liberation is not deliverance. One gets free from the galleys, but not from the sentence.”
Being set free from prison does not mean being free from society's judgment and punishment.
This reflects Valjean's realization that his yellow passport continues to condemn him.
“Society, the State, by diminishing his hoard, had robbed him wholesale. Now it was the individual who was robbing him at retail.”
The state had already stolen from him on a large scale, and now private individuals cheat him in small ways.
Valjean feels doubly victimized by both the system and individuals.