Les Misérables · Chapter
II: Jean Valjean as a National Guard explained
Jean Valjean, living quietly in the Rue Plumet with Cosette and their servant Toussaint, maintains a modest and hidden existence.
What happens
Jean Valjean, living quietly in the Rue Plumet with Cosette and their servant Toussaint, maintains a modest and hidden existence. He serves as a national guard to blend in with society, dresses as a workingman when alone, and takes Cosette on walks to the Luxembourg and to mass. He gives alms to the poor, keeps the house secluded, and lives simply, with Cosette managing the household. His disguise and anonymity are crucial to his life of concealment.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
Marius’s psychological peak occurs as he is overwhelmed by a “whirlwind” of confusion, realizing that his pers…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Redemption and Transformation
Jean Valjean's quiet, humble life and his service as a national guard reflect his ongoing transformation and desire to live as an ordinary, virtuous man.
- The Human Condition and Fate
Jean Valjean's constant concealment and the enigmatical side of his destiny highlight the human struggle with identity and fate.
Characters to notice
- Jean Valjean
Lives in the Rue Plumet with Cosette, serves as a national guard, dresses in disguise when alone, and maintains a humble, hidden life.
- Cosette
Lives with Jean Valjean in the Rue Plumet, manages the household, and accompanies him on walks and to mass.
- Toussaint
Servant to Jean Valjean and Cosette, venerated Jean Valjean as a saint, and brings provisions for the household.
Key passages
“This man had for his ideal, within, the angel, without, the bourgeois.”
His inner aspiration was to be saintly, while outwardly he aimed to appear as an ordinary middle-class citizen.
Describes Jean Valjean's dual nature and his desire for anonymity and virtue.
“I am a much better thing than the master, I am the father.”
He told Toussaint that he was not the master of the house but something greater: Cosette's father.
Highlights Jean Valjean's paternal role and his humility.
