LES MIS BK 2 CH 7

 As expected Ch 6 was a teaser for what was to come, like the appetizer before the main course. Over the course of 19 years Jean Valjean drowned himself in his thoughts. He contemplated whether society had done him wrong by sentencing him to 5 years in prison for stealing bread, which he had done in order to end the hunger in his family. Jean Valjean acknowledged that his sentence has not unjust because as he contemplated the actions of that day, he realized he could've gone about it in different ways. He came to the conclusion that his sentence was out of proportion and that society was the reason for his suffering. That it was wrong that a hard working man still could not afford to put bread on the table. He chose to hate society and to use everything in his power to strengthen this hate so that he would never be thrown into misery again. Jean Valjean was sentenced to 5 years in the galleys, but his sentence was increased as his attempts to escape did as well. Each attempt, and all failed, made his hate grow stronger, so that over the the course of 19 years his hate grew exponentially. All while his soul and any bit of hope he ever had seized to exist. So that all that remained was a shell of who he was 19 years ago and a dangerous man who, if the opportunity arose, could harm a living being.