The Character of Jean Valjean

(Question 12)
Jean Valjean is the main character in the book, and his life, following his release from prison to his death, provides the basis of the plot. Throughout the novel, Jean Valjean is constantly changing and developing, transforming from a hardened criminal to a benevolent and good-hearted citizen to a sad old man, still weighted by the guilt of his former deeds.
In the beginning, Jean Valjean is released from the galleys after serving nineteen years of hard labour simply for stealing a loaf of bread. Insolent and desensitized from his life of hardship, he steals silver from the only man to show him any kindness, the good Bishop of D--. When he is caught and returned, the Bishop pretends to have given the silver to Jean Valjean as a gift, and entreats him to take the candlesticks as well, saying "'Jean Valjean, my brother: you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!'" (Hugo 112). After this, Jean Valjean steals a forty sous piece from a little boy, but upon realizing what a monster he has become, undergoes an epiphany of sorts. This is one of the most pivitol moments of the book. The transformation is shown as the awakening of some part of Jean Valjean that had been crushed by his years in slavery: "...this last misdeed had a profound effect upon him; it rushed across the chaos of his intellect and dissipated it, set the light on one side and the dark clouds on the other, and acted upon his soul..." (Hugo 118). Though it may seem implausible that a lifetime of hatred is reversed by one act of utterly selfless generosity, readers believe this change due to our prior knowledge of Jean Valjean and his time spent in prison- there is not one moment during the story, even when he steals from the little boy, that readers do not believe there is good to be found buried somewhere in Jean Valjean's soul.
Jean Valjean continues to evolve throughout the story. Another important development in his character is when he adopts Cosette. Before this point, he had been kind to all but never loved anyone, and the fatherly love which develops in Jean Valjean's heart is very important to his development. Upon adopting Cosette, he became attached to someone for the first time, which is to a runaway convict both dangerous and magnificent as well as strange, "for it is something very incomprehensible and very sweet, this grand and strange emotion of a heart in its first love. Poor old heart, so young!" (Hugo 436). Every action that Jean Valjean takes henceforth is in the best interest of Cosette, who holds his heart in her small hands.
It is through Cosette, also, that we see another side of Jean Valjean emerge: that of jealousy and selfishness. His love of Cosette is so great that he wishes to keep her for himself; he dismays when he realizes she is growing beautiful and hates Marius, whom she loves, with a passion. Since the incident with the Bishop, Jean Valjean has never expressed any sort of emotion which is not the most virtuous, but now we see that a part of his former self still resides within him: "he who had come to believe he was no longer capable of a malevolent feeling, had moments in which, when Marius was there, he thought that he was again becoming savage and ferocious..." (Hugo 888).
The character of Jean Valjean is powerful enough to carry a whole novel because of the fact that he is always developing, always revealing new emotions and changing along with the story. He is a complex and believable character with whom readers can strongly relate to and empathise with.