# One Sometimes Runs Aground When One Fancies That One Is Disembarking explained — Les Misérables

> Chapter companion for Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se/chapters/vii-one-sometimes-runs-aground-when-one-fancies-that-one-is-disembarking
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se
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