Les Misérables · Chapter
One Sometimes Runs Aground When One Fancies That One Is Disembarking explained
Jean Valjean, carrying the unconscious Marius through the Paris sewer, reaches an exit only to find it locked with a heavy, rusted grating.
What happens
Jean Valjean, carrying the unconscious Marius through the Paris sewer, reaches an exit only to find it locked with a heavy, rusted grating. Exhausted and unable to go back or break through, he collapses in despair, thinking of Cosette.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Sacrifice
Jean Valjean's physical exhaustion and despair as he carries Marius through the sewer, sacrificing his own strength for another.
The Human Condition and Fate
The chapter explores the cruel twist of fate as Valjean reaches the exit only to find it locked, trapping him in a hopeless situation.
Characters to notice
- Jean Valjean
Exhausted from carrying Marius through the sewer, he reaches a locked grating and collapses in despair, thinking of Cosette.
- Marius Pontmercy
Unconscious and carried by Jean Valjean through the sewer; laid down at the grating.
- Cosette
The thought of Cosette is Jean Valjean's final anguish as he faces failure.
Key passages
“He set out on his way once more. However, although he had not left his life in the fontis, he seemed to have left his strength behind him there.”
He resumed his journey, but the effort of escaping the quagmire had drained his physical strength.
Describes Valjean's depleted condition after the struggle in the sewer.
“A damned soul, who, in the midst of the furnace, should suddenly perceive the outlet of Gehenna, would experience what Jean Valjean felt.”
Valjean's feeling upon seeing the light at the sewer exit was like a damned soul glimpsing escape from hell.
Highlights the hope and desperation of the moment.
“He had only succeeded in escaping into a prison.”
His escape had merely led him into another trap.
Summarizes the irony and despair of finding the exit locked.