Jean Valjean Sacrifice

Being rich is a blessing that most people don’t have. Because of this, some of their money should be dedicated to help those in need of it. Philanthropists everywhere are the saviors that voluntarily donate their money. However, not every rich person is a philanthropist; it takes someone who understands the struggle in the lower class and truly cares enough to give back. The American self-made millionaire Peter Cooper devoted his time in later to life to philanthropy to better his society. Similarly in Les Misérables, Jean Valjean is a self-made man who also values the principles of philanthropy because he understands the struggles of living on the streets. Victor Hugo portrays the importance of philanthropists in Les Misérables, such as Jean
Jean Valjean knows how much of an important factor he is the street urchins’ life. Jean Valjean donates his money wherever he is whenever, which shows how he doesn’t value money as an object. For example, in the scene where Javert is spying on Jean Valjean as a peasant, Jean Valjean is unsure whether or not he should give money to the man, “Jean Valjean walked up to him, and put a piece of money in his hand, as usual” (Hugo 187). Although he was suspicious of this man being Javert, he still goes with his gut and gives the man money just in case. Victor Hugo also says “as usual” (Hugo 187) after Valjean gives the beggar the money to emphasize how often he does these small acts of kindness, almost as if it was a second nature. However Jean Valjean doesn’t only invest his money into philanthropy, he dedicated his time and effort into it as well. This is shown in the scene where Jean Valjean (at the time Monsieur Madeleine) was trying to get Cosette back from the Thérnadiess for Fantine, as she cannot do so herself, “Fantine owed them a hundred and twenty francs. He sent them three hundred francs, telling them to pay themselves out of it, and bring the child at once” (Hugo 78). He was persistent in helping Fantine, as he didn’t give up the quest for Cosette, “He replied by a bill of five hundred and some odd francs carefully drawn up… Monsieur Madeleine immediately sent three hundred francs more” (78). Although in these quotes Jean Valjean is being shown to devoting his money in helping others, he is also devoting time and effort. He was determined to help Fantine get her daughter back, so he sent more than one letter. This shows how important Jean Valjean was to Fantine and Cosette, because he refused let them be separated. Similarly, Peter Cooper was critical in the lives of many people in New York. He strongly believed in helping out his community, “Cooper was an early advocate of the idea that