“Can't you see you're just like peas and mashed potatoes? Some people don't like them to touch each other if they're on the same plate! But it's okay. It's okay if they touch! Because they both get chewed up by the mouth, and sent down the esophagus and dissolved into the stomach and absorbed into the intestines and oh I won't go any further than that. But the point is, we're all just nutrients in the great big digestive system called LIFE!”(Billy, “Grim and Evil” 2001)
According to Billy in the above quotation, peas and mashed potatoes have similar characteristics, or at least a common goal: to provide the body with nutrients. He uses that analogy to try to convince his friends that they are the same, that they do not have to hate each other because of their differences, because they are not all that different, in fact, they are very much the same. In a similar way, the main characters in Les Miserables- Bishop Bienvenue,Fantine, Cosette, Mr. and Mrs Thenardier, Jean Valjean, Javert, and Marius- also share certain common characteristics: the characteristics of Christ.
In the very beginning of the book, the Bishop is referred to as an “upright man”. For example, he gives everything he has to the poor. He dresses poorly, eats poorly, and walks or rides a donkey everywhere, instead of taking a carriage, so that he will have more money to spend on the poor. This shows that, at the very least, he has empathy for the poor, but also much more than that. It shows that he has true compassion, the same sort of compassion that Christ had. For example, when the lady who had been bleeding for twelve years touched Christ's cloak and was healed, He stopped to find out who it was, even though he was also needed elsewhere. He did not scold her, or become angry, instead He gently told that her faith had made her well. This shows that each person is an individual to Him, that no one is going to get lost in the crowd. This shows the amount of real compassion that He has for everyone. He is always available for anyone who needs Him, and even, on occasion, scolded His disciples for trying to keep people from coming to Him. He is the embodiment of Love and Compassion, and the Bishop follows His example perfectly
The Bishop is also a man who is willing to do anything he feels is right. For example, when a man was in prison and approaching his execution, no priest could be found to spend his last hours with him. The Bishop, hearing of it, stepped in, saying that it was his duty anyway, no one else's. He spent the last few days the man had with him in the cell, reading the Bible, and praying with him so that the man would die in peace. He then went with him to the guillotine and even stood by him on the platform as the knife fell. This shows that he is willing to do everything that he considers it his duty to do. This shows that the Bishop, like Christ, sees nothing as too low or too dirty for him to do. Christ also exhibited this characteristic. He spent time with sinners, like the tax collectors, because He knew that they needed love, and compassion. He knew that they needed someone to show them that God's love is different than man's love and that they could experience God's love if they wanted to. In Matthew 9:12, He explains to the Pharisees “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick”. This shows that He is willing to be with the “sinners” and tax collectors because they are sick, not physically, but spiritually. They are spiritually dead, and they need a doctor. The Bishop and Christ both have the same plan: to show God's love in any way possible. They do this by spending time with those that others have rejected, in order to show everyone God's love.
Fantine is another character who displays certain attributes of Christ. When life becomes difficult for her and her infant daughter, Cosette, she gives her away to the Thenardier's, a family with two daughters of their own, because she believes Cosette will be happier there than with her. This shows that Fantine is willing to put aside her own desires for the betterment of her child. This shows that she is unselfish like Christ, who was willing to preach until the point of exhaustion just so that His message would reach as many people as possible. For example, when He was preaching to the Five Thousand, He preached all day long, and then performed the miracle of making the five loaves and two fish to feed everyone. This shows that He put everyone else's needs before His own, and that He would endure until those needs were met one hundred percent. This shows that His unselfishness exceeds all human expectations, and gives others the best possible example to follow.
Fantine also does everything possible to keep her daughter at the Thenardier's. They require her to pay them money every month, and when she loses her job she resorts to selling her hair, and even her teeth in order to come up with the money she needs to provide for her daughter. She dies attempting to raise enough money to pay the Thenardier's. This shows that she is willing to do anything for her daughter, which shows that she is willing to sacrifice herself for her daughter. It was love like this that enabled Christ to die on the cross. He knew we needed to have a debt paid that we could not pay, just like Cosette had a debt to be paid that she could not pay. He sacrificed Himself for those He loved in order to pay the debt, which shows His willingness to do anything for us in order to provide for our needs, and His great love for us. This shows His great power, and His desire for us to spend eternity in Heaven with Him. Fantine does much the same thing when she dies trying to provide for her daughter. She loves her enough to die for her, and is willing to do so, if it means that her daughter will have a better life because of it. Both have a reason to give of themselves, and both give in the best ways they know how, Christ by His miracles and His death, and Fantine by selling what she can, and working herself to death .They both know what needs to be done, and do it.
Cosette, Fantine's daughter, also demonstrates a characteristic of Christ: respect. For example, when, as an adult, she is asked by Jean Valjean to leave her location and all of her friends and move once again, she does as he asks, without asking questions, and without fighting him, even though it means leaving the man who loves her behind. This shows that she has a sweet disposition, and that she is a very trusting person. It also shows that she has deep respect for the man who raised her, because he raised her, and because he is her elder. Christ also exhibited this trait. When he was twelve years old, his parents took him to Jerusalem for the passover week. As they were leaving, they realized they couldn't find Him, so they turned around. They found him in the temple with the priests and the scribes. He was asking questions beyond His years, but he wasn't asking them disrespectfully. On the contrary, they were amazed my his knowledge, and His respect, in light of the amount of knowledge He possessed. This shows that He knew how to act around those who were to be respected, which also shows the amount of wisdom he retained.
The Thenardier's also exhibited a Christlike characteristic. When they first met Fantine and Cosette, they agreed to take Cosette because Fantine looked desperate. They insisted on being paid, but only because they were going to be raising another child. This shows that there is a willingness to be kind in their personalities. This shows that they do have, or did at one time have, real feelings and compassion for others outside of their own greediness. Christ was also kind to those in need. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and raised the dead, all without asking for anything for Himself, not even the recognition that He was the one who did it. For example, when a blind man needed his sight, Jesus healed him, and then requested that he not tell anyone that He healed him. This shows Jesus' humbleness. This shows the great character traits that Jesus possessed. He was willing to help any and everyone, and all for nothing. The Thenardier's helped out Fantine, although, being human, they needed money, and quickly became greedy for more. The act of kindness was there in the beginning, and if it were not for them Cosette would probably have died along with Fantine when her situation went downhill.
Jean Valjean keeps his word to Fantine about raising Cosette as his own, even though he knows that having a child with him will slow him down as he is fleeing from the police. This shows that he is a man of his word, and that he will disregard danger to himself in order to keep what he has promised. This shows that he has deep convictions about doing what is promised. Earlier, he also kept his promise to the Bishop of making sure he followed the right path from then on, when the Bishop covered for his theft of his silver by saying that they were a gift, and that he should take the candlesticks too. This shows that he remembers what he has promised, as well as completing the task. He does his best to become an upright man, as the Bishop wanted him to, and he does his best to raise Cosette, and be a good father to her, as he promised Fantine. Christ was also a man of His word. When He said He would be raised from the dead He was, and because He said that He would return, He will. This shows that He is trustworthy, and that He is always right. This shows that He is God, ultimately. He is the only one who will never let us down. Jean Valjean showed this also by keeping his promise to Fantine.
Jena Valjean also manifests the ability to endanger himself, and his own well being, in order to do what is right. For example, when a man is stuck under a cart, he has the option to wait for a crane to save him, but that would take too long. Knowing that displaying the great amount of strength he has will make police inspector Javert suspicious, he lifts the cart off of the man anyway. This shows that he is unselfish, like Fantine, and that he is willing to do the right thing, even though it might mean that he will have to go back to prison. Christ always did the right thing, regardless of whether or not he might be putting himself in danger because of His actions. For example, when he was preaching in the synagogue in Nazareth, the people He spoke to became angry with Him, but He kept preaching. Even when they threatened to kill Him, He didn't stop speaking the truth. This shows that He was brave, and willing to risk His life so that others would see His example and be saved. This shows that He was a righteous man, and the Son of God. He and Jean Valjean both had decisions to make, and both made the right ones, Valjean in saving the man's life, and later in stepping forward when an innocent man was going to be sentenced for his crimes, and Jesus ultimately in giving His life.
Javert showed one of the greatest attributes of Christ that he could. He showed mercy to Jean Valjean. As a police inspector, he is hunting Valjean for stealing a little boy's money. Valjean is now considered a repeat offender, and as such will get life in prison. Searching for him throughout the entire story, Javert finally lets him go at the end because Valjean saved his life. This shows that Javert has realized that sometimes men deserve a break. This shows that Javert understands the concept of mercy, and has decided to apply it in this case. He is acting like Christ in this instance, because he is willing to forgive Valjean of his offense. Jesus was the greatest example of mercy that ever lived. He could have let the human race continue to live in sin and decide that He did not care because they did it to themselves, but He didn't. He came and suffered on the cross for a crime He didn't commit, all because He loves us. This shows that He is the epitome of mercy. This shows that mercy is the greatest gift someone can give to someone else. Javert followed Christ's example,by giving it to Jean Valjean, so that he could live out the rest of his days in peace.
Marius, Cosette's husband, has the opportunity to, and does, exhibit a Christlike characteristic. He shows grace to a fellow student. Before he meets Cosette, he is a student at a university, and during one of the roll calls in a class he has, he claims he is himself, and another student who is absent. The ruse fails, and he gets expelled, but he keeps the other student from being expelled. In doing so, he displayed an act of grace. This shows that Marius, also, has good character traits. This shows that he has a characteristic of Christ. Christ gave the world grace by paying the debt it owed, the payment being death. This shows, once more, the love Christ has for us. This shows that Christ has no boundaries on His love. Marius, in keeping the other student from being expelled, showed a small part of Christ's love for the world.
Just like the main characters in Les Miserables are able to exhibit Christ like characteristics in their lives, so all humans in their everyday situations can also exhibit such traits. It is because of their willingness to show such characteristics that others in their lives are touched, and their lives made better. It is this type of example that all humans should follow in their every day lives.
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