# The Little One Who Was Crying in Volume Two explained — Les Misérables

> Chapter companion for Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

## What happens

A young boy, thin and ragged, walks through the night near the Barrière de Fontainebleau, singing loudly. He encounters an old woman rummaging in refuse, insults her, and then proceeds to a house where he kicks the door. The old woman, Ma'am Bougon, recognizes him and tells him his father is at La Force, his mother at Saint-Lazare, and his sisters at the Madelonettes. The boy reacts with a shrug and a pirouette before continuing on his way, singing.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Injustice and Poverty

The boy's ragged clothing, his family's imprisonment, and the old woman's destitution highlight the pervasive poverty and social injustice of the era.

## Character check-ins

### Gavroche

The ragged boy singing and kicking at the door, revealed to be the gamin.

### Ma'am Bougon

The old woman rummaging in refuse who confronts the boy and informs him of his family's imprisonment.

## Key lines

> Hello! And I took it for an enormous, enormous dog!

The boy mistakes the old woman for a huge dog.

_Shows the boy's irreverent and mocking attitude toward the old woman._

> There's no one here.

The old woman claims the house is empty.

_She lies to the boy to discourage him from entering._

> At La Force.

The boy's father is in La Force prison.

_Reveals the family's criminal entanglements and the boy's familiarity with prison names._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se/chapters/xxii-the-little-one-who-was-crying-in-volume-two
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/les_miserables_se/chapters