“When one has not had a good father one must create one.”, a quote by Friedrich Nietzsche which describes what Valjean has become. Jean Valjean, an ex-convict, takes in an orphaned girl named Cosette after her mother Fantine dies as his promise to her. He nurtures and loves the girl as if she were his own, but he also keeps her away from the rest of the world in fear of his own past. While Valjean may not be Cosette’s biological father, he raises and loves her, but he also hinders her from seeing and experiencing life in the world around her. In the beginning, the audience learns of Valjean’s troubled past. Jean Valjean is a convict who served nineteen years in chains because he stole a piece of bread out of pure starvation. He manages to venture around France and stumbles upon a priest and his wife. He informs them of who is in, but they still welcome him in for the night. Valjean’s mind is entirely warped and he steals silver from the priest which is a crime. However, the priest drops all charges, gives him the silver, and makes Valjean promise to keep his word that he would become a better man as …show more content…
He is able to take Cosette from Théndardiers for money, who are very greedy, unhappy individuals, and they set out to reach Paris. Cosette and Valjean are able to enter Paris by jumping a wall. Valjean is able to find a place for them, one in which Cosette will be able to go to school and have a worthy life full of love from him and the religious people in the city inside the walls of Paris. Fast forward ten years later, and viewers see that Cosette is not content and wants to leave due to this. Valjean agrees that her happiness is what is most important to him, and they leave to find their own place. Cosette knows that Valjean has done all he can to give her a brilliant life, but she begins to see how much she has been forced to overlook once they move into their own