Jean Valjean Was A Cold Case
A friend and I are writing a paper on common fictional misconceptions right now and because he happens to be reading
Les Miserables for the first time, this is one of the examples that we use. In the movie, so much of the plot has to be condensed and so many storylines have to be abridged that you get the impression that all Inspector Javert did for all those years was hunt down Valjean.
Not so, my friends. In fact, the famous "Who Am I" trial moment has more to it than that. After Jean Valjean confesses that he is Valjean instead of the poor fruit-stealer who "goes to judgment in place," he does escape Javert's judgment...eventually. He does so by faking his death. After his confession, Valjean does go to Fantine before her death and promises to care for her daughter. Javert shows up, but Valjean does not escape him then. He leaves with Javert, escapes, is recaptured and is sentenced to death. That sentence gets changed to a life of penal servitude for life. He is working in one of the ports when a disaster befalls, much like the runaway cart. He manages to save a man who is caught in the rigging of a ship, but falls to his "death" from there. Javert therefore gets on with life and his duties as a policeman of France. Years later, he does have the cold case of Jean Valjean reopened and the eventual thrilling storyline of their final game of cat and mouse ensues.