![]() ![]() Valjean is absolutely overwhelmed by this act. The next day, he’s brought back by the police, but the Bishop claims that he had given Valjean these things as a gift, so he should be set free. That night, however, Valjean wakes up and, after a brief battle with his conscience, tucks the Bishop’s silverware and ornate candlesticks under his arm and runs away. He does so, and the Bishop treats him kindly and cordially. Finally, a woman in the street tells the despairing Valjean to knock at the Bishop’s door. Word gets around that this man is Jean Valjean, a convict recently released from the galleys-his yellow passport, a requirement for ex-convicts, betrays him-and everyone refuses to host him. One day, a shady, ominous-looking figure arrives in town, looking for a meal and a bed. ![]() The Bishop is not necessarily a brilliant theologian but rather shows his character through his good works. Les Misérables opens not with the protagonist, Jean Valjean, but in an anonymous French town of D-, where a Bishop known as “Welcome” or “Bienvenu” is astonishing the inhabitants with his modest ways, his commitment to the poor, and his unyielding acts of forgiveness. ![]()
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