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Fantine and Valjean | Poem

 

Jodey answers:

At 09:04 PM 8/9/1999 EDT, you wrote:
How and why does Valjean identify with Fantine?


Fantine once worked in Jean Valjean's factory. He fired her at his foreman's urging - not realizing that the reason his foreman gave was false. So Fantine becomes a prostitute to support her child.

When Fantine dies Jean Valjean feels he owes her a moral debt to support her daughter Cosette. He rescues Cosette from the innkeeper Thenardier who has enslaved her as a servant in his inn and treats her brutally.

Jean Valjean (who has escaped from prison himself) pays Thenardier and takes Cosette to Paris and raises her there.
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