Ms. Molyneaux
English Honors-B
15 May 2015
Love
A significant quote in Les Miserables is describes the loving relationship between Cosette and Jean Valjean. After Jean saved Cosette from the Thenardiers their relationship began to grow closer. Jean starts to feel "Something new entering his soul. Jean had never loved anything" before he loved Cosette (123). This quote is important because this is the first time Jean ever loved anyone. He finally learned to love Cosette and eventually she became the most important part of his life. They were each others family when no one else was and they offered each other support. He was willing to do anything for her and grew to be a fatherly figure to Cosette. She gives him something to live for and they need one another in their lives. This is a sign that Jean is a change person. He puts aside his criminal life and works to become and honest man for her.
I agree and I think that Cosette became Jean's purpose in life. Jean and Cosette have a father/daughter relationship and “he [is] the support of this child, and this child [is] his prop and staff” (125). The fact that he never loved anything before shows how much he changes throughout the novel. It is clear that this relationship was meant to be so each could find family within eachother.
ReplyDeleteI agree and believe that the new love between Jean Valjean and Cosette is a key turning point in Jean's life. In the beginning of the novel Jean is a man that steals and loves none, but he does change. He changes into a man that opens his heart to a young girl, and into an honest man. Love is something so powerful that can change someone for the better, and that is what it does in Victor Hugo's Les Mis.
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