LES MIS QUESTIONS

 So far I have about 3 questions:

1. Why is this bishop so self-less and does it have a thing to do with the fact that he came from nothing?

2. If the author in the beginning said that this story about M. Myriel didn't have a real connection to the bigger picture, then why is he telling it? 

3. Is there a much deeper meaning to this than a story of kindness and heroism, and if so would it be why the author also said that the story of M. Myriel is not superfluous? 

4 (continuation of 2 & 3). Is there really no deeper meaning to this and he just made that contradictory statement in the beginning of the novel as a way to get the readers' heads rolling and let them create their own meanings of what M. Myriel really symbolizes?