# V: Which Would Be Impossible with Gas Lanterns explained — Les Misérables

> Chapter companion for Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

## What happens

Jean Valjean, carrying Cosette, is trapped in a Paris alley as Javert and a patrol of soldiers close in. With no rope and a high wall before him, Valjean improvises by stealing the rope from an unlit street lantern. He ties the rope around Cosette, scales the wall, pulls her up, and escapes across a roof just as Javert's men arrive to search the alley.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suffering and Sacrifice

Valjean risks recapture and the galleys to save Cosette, enduring physical strain and the terror of imminent capture.

### Redemption and Transformation

Valjean's past as a convict provides the very skills that enable him to protect Cosette, transforming his criminal past into a means of salvation.

## Character check-ins

### Jean Valjean

Uses his convict skills to scale a wall and rescue Cosette from Javert's patrol.

### Cosette

Frightened but obedient; remains silent as Valjean lifts her over the wall.

### Javert

Leads the patrol searching for Valjean; orders the blind alley to be searched.

### Madame Thénardier

Mentioned by Valjean to frighten Cosette into silence.

## Key lines

> Jean Valjean had this peculiarity, that he carried, as one might say, two beggar’s pouches: in one he kept his saintly thoughts; in the other the redoubtable talents of a convict.

Valjean possessed a dual nature: one side held his virtuous intentions, the other his formidable criminal abilities.

_Highlights the duality of Valjean's character as both a reformed man and a skilled escape artist._

> These gloomy inventors of expedients work rapidly when they are fighting against fatality.

Desperate people devise clever solutions quickly when confronting doom.

_Emphasizes Valjean's resourcefulness under extreme pressure._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se/chapters/v-which-would-be-impossible-with-gas-lanterns
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se/chapters