Les Misérables · Chapter
XI: What He Does explained
Jean Valjean stealthily enters the Bishop's room, hesitates while contemplating the sleeping Bishop's peaceful and saintly appearance, then steals the silverware and flees.
What happens
Jean Valjean stealthily enters the Bishop's room, hesitates while contemplating the sleeping Bishop's peaceful and saintly appearance, then steals the silverware and flees.
Themes in this chapter
Redemption and Transformation
Valjean's hesitation and awe before the sleeping Bishop foreshadow his eventual moral transformation.
Mercy and Forgiveness
The Bishop's unconscious grace and the crucifix's silent benediction contrast with Valjean's theft, setting the stage for future forgiveness.
Characters to notice
- Jean Valjean
Steals the Bishop's silverware after a moment of hesitation and awe at the Bishop's peaceful slumber.
- Monseigneur Bienvenu
Sleeps peacefully, unaware of Valjean's presence, radiating a serene and saintly aura.
Key passages
“He seemed prepared to crush that skull or to kiss that hand.”
Valjean stood poised between violence and reverence, uncertain whether to harm the Bishop or show him devotion.
Captures Valjean's internal conflict between his criminal instincts and the stirrings of conscience.
“The noise of the hinge rang in his ears with something of the piercing and formidable sound of the trump of the Day of Judgment.”
The creaking hinge sounded to Valjean like a terrifying alarm, as if announcing divine judgment.
Highlights Valjean's guilt and fear of being discovered.