Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, once said, “People find meaning and redemption in the most unusual human connections”. That is, encountering a certain person or two may change that person’s whole life. In Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is a man with a dreadful past, serving 19 years in prison for breaking the window pane of a bakery to steal a loaf of bread for his sister’s starving children, and attempting to escape out of jail several times. After his release, Jean Valjean is known by all as a criminal, and is only provided shelter by the kind bishop of Digne, Monseigneur Bienvenu. The bishop kindness purifies and humanizes Valjean, and so he becomes a respectful man who changes his identity in order to forget his past and start a new life. Valjean also meets Fantine, a young woman whose lover left her with a child, Cosette. Valjean takes Cosette as his own after Fantine passes away, and because of Cosette, he finally understands parenthood and love. Unfortunately, Valjean’s past is not far behind and catches up with him quickly. Therefore, he is constantly on the run with Cosette from the ruthless officer, Javert, …show more content…
If he hadn’t saved Cosette from the Thenardiers, she wouldn’t have encountered love or happiness the way she did. If he hadn’t rescued Marius from the barricades, Cosette would have been in mourning and grief for a long time. In relation to the quote at the beginning of this essay, it is necessary to state that the connections Valjean had with the bishop and Cosette consecutively played a big role in fulfilling Valjean’s redemption. The bishop started the journey, and Cosette completed the journey. Valjean’s final act in redeeming himself was to see that Cosette was happy, and that was all that mattered in the end to him. And because of that, he ended his life with