The Bishop was a simple man who gave anything and everything that he could away to the poor. He gave most of his income and his time to those who needed it. The only time he kept for himself was to tend his garden; the rest was for prayer and reaching out to those who needed him. He spent much of his time at sickbeds and deathbeds, giving solace and comfort wherever he could. He only kept enough from his income to feed and cloth himself and his two housemates; the rest went to others. He was extremely kind, but not because he was simple-minded or gullible. The Bishop was realistic about the motives and intentions of people. However, he had a quality of dwelling in goodness that was permanent, which actively formed everything he did.
This quality is virtue - in Latin this word denotes a power or ability which a man has that enables him to stand upright. The Bishop showed this power many times in the novel, but there is one incident that is shared with the movie, it is the famous scene where the Bishop ransoms Jean Valjean's life with his precious silver. This is a pivotal moment in all versions of this story; it is the moment that starts Valjean on the voyage of redemption. The Bishop lies to the police, telling them that he had given Valjean the silver, which Valjean had stolen the night before, and that Valjean had forgotten the candlesticks. In this act he gives up his prized possessions to save a life, and hopefully a soul.
This was not just a deed of simple kindness, an attempt to save a man's life. This was a perfect example of the Bishop's total selflessness. It takes a giving and loving individual to so quickly forgive someone that repays kindness as Valjean did, to forgive a convict that you gave shelter, food and trust only to have them steal your only prized possessions. The silver was the only luxury that the Bishop allowed himself. It was not just decoration - the silver was used as the regular dinnerware, the candlesticks were the only show he put on for visitors. The silver was the household's sole vanity, in giving of this so freely to Valjean he also gave away those things that he put on display. Now he would have to use plates as simple, pure and unassuming as his lifestyle.
His act of selflessness towards a convict let Valjean grasp that the Bishop is an actual human being that embodied goodness, showing that it is possible. This knowledge hits Valjean like a thunderbolt, both disorientating him for a time, and empowering him to change his life and attempt to do good.
Character Quotes:
Bishop M. Bienvenu
"To commit the least possible sin is the law for man. To live without sin is the dream of an angel. Everything terrestrial is subject to sin. Sin is a gravitation" (P.13)
"Have no fear of robbers or murders. Such dangers are without, and are petty. We should fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices the real murders. The great dangers are within us. What matters it what threatens our heads or our purses? Let us think only of what threatens our souls." (P. 24-25)
"He did not attempt to make his robe assume the folds of Elijah's mantle; he cast no ray of the future upon the dark scroll of events; he sought not to condense into a flame the glimmer of things; he had nothing of the prophet and nothing of the magician. His humble soul loved; that was all. That he raised his prayer to superhuman aspiration, is probable; but one can no more pray too much than love too much." (P.49)
"You belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition; and I give it to God." (P.90)
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