June 8, 2009 8:59 PM
Les Miserables - Book One commentary
Victor Hugo begins Les Miserables with a lovingly detailed portrait of Monseigneur Bienvenu, a French bishop whose every action exemplifies the Christian life.
His character is revealed through anecdotes:
• His exchange of his bishop's palace for the humble hospital next door: "Obviously this is wrong, there are twenty-six of you in five or six small rooms; there are three of us in space enough for sixty."
• His intercession - so like Mother Teresa - for alms from the rich to aid the poor.
• His understanding that For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:48: : "The faults of women, children and servants and of the weak, the indigent, and the ignorant, are the faults of the husbands, fathers and masters, of the strong, the rich, and the wise.
• His belief in education and spiritual awakening: "If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness."
Can you hear the irony in Hugo's voice when he - as author - says, "Clearly he had his own strange way of judging things. I suspect he acquired it from the Gospels."
As though polishing a gem, Hugo displays the facets of M. Bienvenu's character: his disposition of material assets, his domicile, his transportation (a donkey), his interaction with the poor and the rich, his relationship with his sister.
M. Bienvenu does not boast of his humble piety, which some of the upper classes regard as an affectation. Hugo assures us it is not, that the bishop's life is like a seamless garment: "The private life of M. Myriel was filled with the same thoughts as his public life."
He is a practical man, and how he spends his time is decided according to the needs of each day: "When he had money, his visits were to the poor; when he had none, he visited the rich."
He wears his violet cloak not out of pride or authority, but to hide the worn-out condition of his cassock, because he would rather give money to the poor than to buy a new one. Hugo does not note, but I could not help but think how prone to misjudgment this made him - and how dead wrong those who judged him would be.
This is the third time I've read Les Miserables, but my first time as a Catholic. I felt so much more love for M. Bienvenu because now that I see and understand the sacrifice priests make - vowing poverty, chastity and obedience so that they might put themselves wholly in God's hands to minister to the people He has placed in their care. Certainly there have been wicked and sinful priests - just as the Bible is full of God's anointed leaders who often fell drastically short - but for every one the world uses to destroy the reputation of the church, how many more like M. Bienvenu are there? I know I've met a few in the past year and a half.
When he is given money for a beautiful new altar for his oratory (prayer room), M. Bienvenu gives it instead to the poor: "The most beautiful of altars is the soul of an unhappy many who is comforted and thanks God."
No door in the bishop's house has a lock. As he writes in the margin of his Bible: The door of a physician should never be closed; the door of a priest should always be open." And in another margin-note/foreshadowing: "Do not ask the name of him who asks you for a bed. It is precisely he whose name is a burden to him who most needs sanctuary."
When worry breaks out over a band of robbers, M. Bienvenu will not let fear deter him from making his visits, saying, "perhaps Jesus has made me the shepherd of that very flock. Who knows the way of Providence?"
"Have no fear of robbers or murderers. They are external dangers, petty dangers. We should fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices the real murderers. The great dangers are within us. Why worry about what threatens our heads or our purses? Let us think instead of what threatens our souls."
Hugo goes on to show us more sides of M. Bienvenu through his conversation with the atheist senator (29-31), his sister's letter to a friend (31-35), and a dying conventionist (a member of the National Convention during the French Revolution, presumably a man with blood on his hands) (35-45).
By this time, I am in love with M. Bienvenu - not in love romantically, but in love with the idea that godly men exist and walk the same planet I do.
Hugo says:
"To conclude: He was always and in all things just, true, fair. Intelligent, humble, worthy, beneficent, and benevolent. . . He was a priest, a sage, and a man . . . tolerant and yielding. . . The bishop had an excess of love. . .Her lived without disdain. He was indulgent toward God's creation . . ." (pp 48, 52-53)
And my favorite:
"He did not study God; he was dazzled by Him."
Clearly, he could be dazzled because through steadfastly loving and serving others, his self-interest could no longer cloud his vision. Oh, to be that kind of person! And through doing the will of God to change the course of the world through the lives of others - as we will see as the story unfolds.
After his meeting with Jean Valjean - which I will cover tomorrow - we will never hear of the Bishop again. But remember: good writers calculate carefully, and it is no accident that Hugo set the stage for his story of redemption with this loving portrait of a man who lived as God has asked us all to live.
I'm eager to hear your thoughts. Even if it's a few words, please speak up so we know who's out there. How I wish we could all be sitting in someone's living room!
Tomorrow: pages 59-113 - we meet Jean Valjean and he meets Monseigneur Bienvenu.
For entire commentary and helps - including pronunciation keys, maps, timeline, see Les Miserables Book Study
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Comments
Thank you Barbara, for taking the time to do this book. You bring the characters to life.
Posted by: Marie | June 8, 2009 10:25 PM
Oh yes, the bishop has definitely drawn me in. One of the lines I particularly like follows right after what you mentioned as your favorite on p.55. "He reflected on the magnificent union of atoms, which give visible forms to Nature, revealing forces by recognizing them, creating individualities in unity, proportions in extension, the innumerable in the infinite, and through light producing beauty."
This sums up how I felt this last semester taking a physical science class at the community college. I was constantly "dazzled by God" as I learned about His creation. Every lesson, every step deeper into topics that I thought I knew about, brought me into another wave of awe for the way God designed everything so beautifully. When I read that paragraph in the book, I wanted to yell out "YES! He understands!"
Posted by: Susan | June 8, 2009 10:59 PM
AHHh!! what do you mean we hear NO more of the Bishop??? I am totally swept away by him too! reading of him is like drinking in warmth on a cold night....it warms my heart! You took out MANY of the same qoutes i underlined in my book! Hugo writes so beautifully. I am just loving it.
And I am glad to be covering more tomorrow...I only managed to get to page 22! eeek! I tried to get my older girls to take a picture of me last week attempting to read...(keyword "Attempting") I had everyone outside playing in the gorgeous sun, me in a nice rocking chair with a playpen next to me for the baby, but really what it turned into (and what i wanted a picture of to send you for giggles) was me holding the baby while she tried to chew on the pages, and my 2 year old literally climbing up my head trying to get into the playpen knocking off my sunglasses and pulling my hat over my face in the same go. Too bad my camera batteries died.
Sorry for the tangent! I can't wait to read more!
Kristy in Germany
Posted by: kristy in Germany | June 9, 2009 4:09 AM
I found the relationships between the sister, maid and bishop charming also.
Posted by: betty | June 9, 2009 6:07 AM
My favorite part so far is when the Bishop marched off into the bandit-infested mountains to tend a parish he had not visited in three years. I especially liked how the Bishop wanted to hold a service in the rural village church, while everyone complained of not enough proper vestments. Even so, he would not let that hold him back. Because of his courage and his humility and holiness, the robbers feel moved enough to give him the entire stolen vestments of a Bishop in a rich diocese which were stolen not even a few weeks earlier!
Talk about Providence:).
Posted by: Sarah | June 9, 2009 7:42 AM
I agree, with Kristy.
I feel like I have read a whole story in just this book. The Bishop as a character is the pinnacle of what we as Christians should be aiming for. This has been a little journey in Faith, Hope and Love.
I loved that line "Clearly he had his own strange way ..." , Barbara.
Thanks so much for your very in depth commentary.
You are a great guide!
Posted by: Jennifer | June 9, 2009 7:49 AM
Barbara, I'm sorry I don't have time to read the book right now, but I am reading your commentaries and finding them very worthwhile.
Posted by: evergreen | June 9, 2009 1:07 PM
Don't have time for a long post, but wanted to get my thoughts in on M. Bienvenu. I must say I felt a little convicted reading about him. My first thoughts were of how crazy he must be to not worry about being robbed or killed when he went out at night or left the door unlocked and open.
It was when he said. ""Have no fear of robbers or murderers. They are external dangers, petty dangers. We should fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices the real murderers. The great dangers are within us. Why worry about what threatens our heads or our purses? Let us think instead of what threatens our souls."
I had a Wow moment... That's what it's really all about.
Posted by: Joani | June 9, 2009 1:39 PM
I too love the Bishop and was so glad to read everything written about him since his part is significantly shorter in the musical. But am I the only one who is slightly annoyed with Hugo for speaking to the reader? I don't mind it when a character breaks the 4th wall during a play, it can be incredibly effective, but I don't like Hugo's little asides and I can't figure out why. Does anybody have any thoughts on the effectiveness of this technique and how I can reconcile myself to it? This is a long book and I can only assume that there will be more instances to come.
Posted by: Charlotte (Matilda) | June 9, 2009 1:52 PM
I'm only on page 29 so far, but I'm loving it! And loving the bishop! I'd tried reading it once before -- got maybe a couple hundred pages in that time -- but started getting lost at that point. So, I'm taking it a little slower this time, writing a little summary of each section in a notebook so that I can keep track of things. Just this morning, I started adding notes next to each summary about what sorts of questions you could ask from each summary -- so far, I've found at least one question worthy of a full-length essay in each section! My favorite so far, from the section "Cravatte," where he goes into the bandit-infested mountains, is: "Danger and the Christian life: Why do missionary organizations always pull their people out of areas full of unrest, disturbance and danger?" Sure, I understand it from a worldly perspective -- but that's not the perspective we should have, and I think M. Bienvenu has it right! Of course, I can't write all those essays now -- but I think it's a mark of how wonderful a book this is that it touches constantly on such worthy subjects, that it brings challenging topics to mind, and I hope to go through this book again with my children when they are older and have them think about some of the questions for a bit. :)
Newt
Posted by: Newt Sherwin | June 9, 2009 4:10 PM
I am posting a late comment for this section because I just started reading the book yesterday. I must say that I had no idea what to expect of the book as I have neither seen the play or the film. A friend urged me to read it this summer and I am so thankful that I discovered your blog as I was googling about it.
I have quickly developed a strong fondness for Monseigneur Bienvenu. I was incredibly moved by the section beginning on page 14 when he ministers to the prisoner who has been sentenced to death:
"The sufferer, so desolate and overwhelmed the day before, was now radiant with hope. He felt that his soul was reconciled, and he trusted God. The bishop embraced him, and as the ax was about to fall, he said to him, "He whom man kills God restores to life; he whom his brothers drive away finds the Father. Pray, believe, enter into life! The Father is here."
Posted by: Treska | June 16, 2009 11:51 PM
I am far behind the rest of you in my reading, but still greatly enjoying it. As I read this section, I could not help but compare this character to the majority of Christians today. Most I know, myself included, come up so far short. I could make many excuses, but am inspired by my reading to be more like M. Bienvenu. I think he is such a good picture of someone who truly emulates Christ.
Posted by: Karen | June 26, 2009 2:02 PM
