Part I, Book 7, Chapter 8
Privileged Access
So: there’s room in the court for public officials. Madeleine is a public official. This is the chapter where he goes into court, right?
WRONG! This is the chapter where he stands in an empty room!
Look, I totally get what Hugo is doing here; drawing this whole thing out is creating simultaneous suspense and momentum, but it’s very funny that he included this chapter and not the one where Baby Cosette screws up her dad’s marriage grift.
So, backing up. Madeleine has just sent the judge a note announcing himself as Monsieur Madeleine, mayor of Montreuil-sur-mer.
As it turns out, the mayor of Montreuil-sur-mer is a celebrity—in addition to stories of his goodness spreading far and wide, he also gave various forms of financial support to industries in other towns. Damn! What hasn’t this guy funded??? As a result, he is respected and beloved all over the region.
So as it happens, the judge is a big fan. When the judge is told Madeleine is there and wants to attend the hearing, the starstruck dude writes a note presenting his respects and has it given to Madeleine. This is kind of an amazing setup for the eventual reveal and presents such a stark contrast between how beloved Madeleine is and how reviled Jean Valjean is.
The usher leads Madeleine into an empty chamber off of the court with a door that leads to the seats of honor, and leaves him in there. Madeleine proceeds to equivocate worse than Chidi choosing between two hats.
He stands for a while in agony, not seeing the stuff around him, thinking about Fantine and Cosette. He then panics and leaves—not into the courtroom, but out the way he came in.
For fifteen minutes Madeleine just stands in the corridor, wrapped up in what I can only imagine is “A Storm in the Mind v. 2.0.” I want to note that Hugo mentions that he has not eaten for over 24 hours—please, someone, just give this poor man a sandwich. It’s hard enough to make life-altering decisions normally, much less on an empty stomach.
Finally Madeleine’s head drops and he drags himself back to the chamber in resignation. I feel so bad for this guy—Hugo, you are one sick mofo for putting this character through all this!!!
Did you think the paralyzed indecision was over in this chapter? Well, it isn’t; after going back into the chamber, he just stands, staring at the doorknob of the door to the courtroom. I just gotta say, it would be so tragic and so bleakly ironic if Madeleine ended up arriving in time for Champmathieu’s trial and then ended up missing it anyway just because he spends so much time being frozen with indecision.
Finally—finally!—he opens the door, and goes into the courtroom.
IT’S COURTROOM DRAMA TIME.
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