He heads away from town, struggling to understand how and why the Bishop didn’t obey the laws of judgment and revenge that seem, to Valjean, to define society. 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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