# VI: In Which Magnon and Her Two Children Are Seen explained — Les Misérables > Chapter companion for Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. ## What happens M. Gillenormand, a proud and eccentric old man, reacts to the arrival of two illegitimate children attributed to him by a woman named Magnon. Despite his initial indignation, he accepts responsibility, paying for their care and visiting them, while reflecting on his family history and his disdain for the modern age. ## Themes in this chapter ### The Human Condition and Fate M. Gillenormand's acceptance of the children despite his age and prejudices reflects the unpredictable nature of life and the roles fate plays in family and legacy. ### Love and Compassion Despite his gruff exterior, M. Gillenormand shows compassion by taking responsibility for the children and ensuring their care. ## Character check-ins ### M. Gillenormand The central figure of the chapter, an 84-year-old man who accepts two children attributed to him by Magnon, pays for their upkeep, and visits them. ### The Magnon The woman who brings the children to M. Gillenormand, claiming he is the father, and receives monthly payments for their care. ### Georges Pontmercy Mentioned as the soldier who married M. Gillenormand's younger daughter, considered a disgrace by the old man. ## Key lines > With M. Gillenormand, sorrow was converted into wrath; he was furious at being in despair. M. Gillenormand turned his sadness into anger, becoming enraged by his own hopelessness. _Describes Gillenormand's emotional response to personal grief._ > He had all sorts of prejudices and took all sorts of liberties. He held many biases and allowed himself many freedoms. _Characterizes Gillenormand's personality and worldview._ > One of the facts of which his exterior relief and his internal satisfaction was composed, was, as we have just hinted, that he had remained a brisk spark, and that he passed energetically for such. Part of his outward ease and inner contentment came from his reputation as a lively, spirited old man. _Explains Gillenormand's self-image and social persona._ > This he called having 'royal renown.' He referred to this reputation as 'royal renown.' _Highlights Gillenormand's pride in his perceived status._ > This royal renown sometimes drew down upon him singular windfalls. This reputation occasionally brought him unusual surprises. _Sets up the arrival of the children as a consequence of his reputation._ > M. Gillenormand himself was not at all enraged. He gazed at the brat with the amiable smile of a good man who is flattered by the calumny. Gillenormand was not angry; he looked at the baby with a kind smile, flattered by the accusation. _Shows his unexpected reaction to the claim of paternity._ > He sent the two brats back to their mother, promising to pay eighty francs a month for their maintenance, on the condition that the said mother would not do so any more. He returned the two children to their mother, agreeing to pay eighty francs monthly for their support, provided she did not send any more. _Details the arrangement Gillenormand made with Magnon._ > He had had a brother who was a priest, and who had been rector of the Academy of Poitiers for three and thirty years, and had died at seventy-nine. 'I lost him young,' said he. He had a brother who was a priest and rector of the Academy of Poitiers for thirty-three years, dying at seventy-nine. Gillenormand remarked, 'I lost him young.' _Reveals Gillenormand's perspective on age and loss._ > This brother, of whom but little memory remains, was a peaceable miser, who, being a priest, thought himself bound to bestow alms on the poor whom he met, but he never gave them anything except bad or demonetized sous, thereby discovering a means of going to hell by way of paradise. This brother, now mostly forgotten, was a peaceful miser who, as a priest, felt obliged to give alms but only gave worthless coins, finding a way to damn himself while appearing pious. _Describes the brother's hypocritical charity._ > As for M. Gillenormand the elder, he never haggled over his alms-giving, but gave gladly and nobly. The elder Gillenormand never bargained over charity but gave generously and honorably. _Contrasts Gillenormand's generosity with his brother's miserliness._ > He was kindly, abrupt, charitable, and if he had been rich, his turn of mind would have been magnificent. He was kind, blunt, and charitable, and if wealthy, his nature would have been splendid. _Summarizes Gillenormand's character and potential._ > He desired that all which concerned him should be done in a grand manner, even his rogueries. He wanted everything about him to be done on a grand scale, even his dishonest acts. _Highlights Gillenormand's preference for grandeur._ > One day, having been cheated by a business man in a matter of inheritance, in a gross and apparent manner, he uttered this solemn exclamation: 'That was indecently done! I am really ashamed of this pilfering. Everything has degenerated in this century, even the rascals. Morbleu! this is not the way to rob a man of my standing. I am robbed as though in a forest, but badly robbed. Silvae sint consule dignae!' Once, when blatantly cheated in an inheritance matter, he exclaimed indignantly that the theft was indecent and poorly executed, lamenting that even rogues had degenerated in the modern age. _Illustrates Gillenormand's pride and disdain for contemporary morals._ > He had had two wives, as we have already mentioned; by the first he had had a daughter, who had remained unmarried, and by the second another daughter, who had died at about the age of thirty, who had wedded, through love, or chance, or otherwise, a soldier of fortune who had served in the armies of the Republic and of the Empire, who had won the cross at Austerlitz and had been made colonel at Waterloo. 'He is the disgrace of my family,' said the old bourgeois. He had two wives: the first bore a daughter who never married; the second bore a daughter who died around thirty, having married a soldier who served in the Republican and Imperial armies, earned the cross at Austerlitz, and became a colonel at Waterloo. Gillenormand called him the disgrace of the family. _Provides background on Gillenormand's family and his disapproval of his son-in-law._ > He took an immense amount of snuff, and had a particularly graceful manner of plucking at his lace ruffle with the back of one hand. He believed very little in God. He used a great deal of snuff and had an elegant way of adjusting his lace ruffle with the back of his hand. He had little faith in God. _Describes Gillenormand's habits and religious skepticism._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se/chapters/vi-in-which-magnon-and-her-two-children-are-seen - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se/chapters