The silver and the candlesticks
When Valjean is brought back after stealing silver, Bishop Myriel confirms it as a gift and adds the candlesticks. The scene places mercy at the beginning of Valjean’s transformation.
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Les Misérables
ABOUT THE BOOK
Jean Valjean’s story unfolds within a broad portrait of French society. Intimate moral choices sit alongside institutions, political upheaval, and poverty. The linked Signet Classics edition is translated by Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee.
A CLOSER LOOK
The story behind it.
A novel of justice, mercy, poverty, and the possibility of becoming someone different.
A life lived after the gift
Valjean’s later responsibilities, including his care for Cosette, unfold after that encounter. The novel returns the gift through choices made over time.
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Author, publisher, or archive source (opens in a new tab)Source for Les Misérables: Author, publisher, or archive source.
Sources for this closer look
Author, publisher, or archive source (opens in a new tab)FOLLOW THE CONNECTIONS
There’s a thread here.
Read the book.
Follow the original source to explore the work in its own context.
Sources & credits
Introductions are grounded in the sources below. Collection notes and reading prompts provide an editorial starting point; personal opinions are identified in the collection’s content.
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Discover the person. Follow the work.
PersonVictor Hugo
A selected work to get to know the author: Les Misérables.
START WITHLes Misérables
LiteraturePhilosophy
BookThe Brothers Karamazov
A curated pairing for exploring responsibility, judgment, and mercy through fiction.
EXPLORE THIS WORKFyodor Dostoevsky
LiteraturePhilosophy
CharacterBishop Myriel
Bishop Myriel is a fictional character in Les Misérables, central to its early account of mercy.
EXPLORE THIS WORKVictor Hugo
LiteratureCompassion