Whats this.....could it be......actual plot??? OH THANK GOD! I THOUGHT IT WAS NEVER COMING BACK!
So the Thenardiers have continued their abuse of Cosette, making her a kind of slave in their inn, on one journey to fetch water from a well in a wood she meets Jean Valjean who accompanies her back to the inn with the intention to rescue her from the Thenardiers because he promised Fantine he would look after her. He buys Cosette a new doll and clothes which make the Thenardiers suspicious of him but that subsides once Valjean pays fifteen hundred francs to take Cosette away from them. They agree to this sum but not before trying to squeeze even more money out of him and even threatening to keep Cosette if he doesn't pay them even more money, they eventually back off when Valjean gives them a note signed by Fantine that allows Valjean to take Cosette.
This is my favourite part of the book so far, (I don't like the Thenardiers but I'll get to that in a minute) Valjean and Cosette are my favourite characters although i actually have no idea why, maybe it's the father/daughter thing they've got going on that i like, maybe it's because i have my own daddy issues, WHY DIDN'T YOU LOVE ME DADDY, WHY, WHY!!!!! oops, sorry................. please ignore that.
I cant explain why i like these two characters in particular i just like the way they interact with each other, I especially liked it when Valjean buys her a doll after witnessing her being denied toys by the Thenardiers children, and when he helps her carry the heavy bucket of water from the woods, it's all quite sweet really, although i could do without him watching her while she sleeps, does anyone else think that's a bit creepy..............no? just me then?.........See i have issues!
Anyway, about the Thenardiers...
From what I've read about the musical version of Les Miserables the overall opinion of the Thenardiers seems to be that they are two of the most popular characters in the play, this isn't undeserved because their songs are a lot of fun and they do bring a bit of laughter to an overall depressing plotline. However i think that most people only know them from the musical and i think if they read the book they wouldn't be so fond of the Thenardiers since the book portrays them as greedy, abusive, manipulative, thieving scum!
It's actually quite an interesting contrast of the characters when you compare the book to the musical, in fact i think it's a remarkable achievement that the writers managed to take two manipulative child abusers and turn them into comedy.
I have to wonder about what Cosette is thinking at this point in the book, she just seems to go with Jean Valjean without so much as asking his name, she's either the most trusting child in the world or she's very very stupid. She doesn't even know who this guy is, he could be a child molester for all she knows! STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER!!!!
Perhaps this is just paranoia coming from my warped 2012 view of the world though, i guess people just didn't think about things like that back then, this is just a world where you can leave children with complete strangers and then have another complete stranger pay to take them away again. THE GOOD OLD DAYS!!
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