Part I, Book 1, Chapter 13
What He Believed
Okay. I love the bishop, obviously. I’m genuinely enjoying all these philosophical wanderings. But we’re on Chapter 13 and there hasn’t really been any plot and I am starting to yearn for plot.
Is there any plot in Chapter 13? Of course not, Hugo needs us to understand the bishop’s soul, and what fulfills him. He possesses a “surfeit of love,” Hugo writes, and is “kind to God’s creation.” He truly loves all living things, even animals, which Hugo points out is quite unusual for even learned men. Meanwhile here I am, loving all non-human animals and thinking humankind’s maybe not so hot. I wonder what Hugo would say about me.
The bishop is so kind to all creatures that he “sprained his ankle trying not to step on an ant.” Precious, precious man. I bet he would try to do snail CPR.
(I am now genuinely wondering if Doug Forcett of The Good Place is modeled on the bishop from Les Misérables.)
Hugo makes pains to note that the bishop was not born in this state of unconditional universal kindness; in his youth he was a “passionate, perhaps violent man” (where is my Myriel prequel, Hugo!!!) but that his strong convictions were shaped through his life over time, “For as drops of water may wear holes in a rock, so it is with character.” It’s actually a lovely little reminder that we all have the deep potential for goodness within us, and that you can make choices through your life that shape your own character. I know I keep referencing The Good Place, but it really does feel like there’s shared philosophical DNA here.
We are also treated to a description of the bishop’s immaculate vibes; he’s about 75 but looks “no older than sixty,” is suffused with a “childish gaiety” that people are very charmed by, and his commitment to being a good person is so complete that “Majesty emanated from this goodness.” People in LA call this “a beautiful aura” or “great energy,” and they will stop you on the street and tell you that you have it. I don’t think the bishop would be able to make it two blocks down Melrose without a dozen people telling him how beautiful his aura is.
We finish the chapter with a summary of how the bishop ends each day. For 1-2 hours every night, he sits in his garden, not doing anything in particular, just feeling the presence of God and the infinite. It sounds so beautiful and peaceful and is a really lovely way for a kind old man to wind down and tend to his soul.
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