Love may be the most intriguing and used theme in all of literature. The power of love is overwhelming; it can make a crude ruler cry, it can bring a fierce warrior to his knees, and it can make the meanest man sweet again. Love is present throughout the great novel "Les Miserables" and is most present in the character Cosette. Cosette brings the once hardened criminal Jean Valjean into a loving being and she also shows undying love for Marius.
Jean Valjean is arrested for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister's starving children. He is thrown in jail and not released for nineteen years. This act shows his love for the children. However, after being in jail for nineteen years Valjean has become hardened and mean. When he is released he does not know love and does not know how to be nice to people. Because he is a criminal no innkeeper will allow him into his inn, but then he comes upon the house of the Bishop of D____. The Bishop of D____ shows love towards Valjean and allows him to stay in his home. The Bishop's love and compassion are so strong that when Valjean steals silver from him he denies the robbery and says he gave Valjean the silver. The Bishop of D____ shows love towards Valjean and it soon caused Valjean to turn his life around and live a good and compassionate life. He began to become a trustworthy, giving man named Father Madeleine. He gave money to better the poor and those who were in need. Valjean showed good morals and even went as far as to save a man who had shown hatred towards him by risking his own life. Valjean had not yet known real love though, and would not until he met his dear Cosette. .
Valjean was not only struck by the Bishop's love, but also by Cosette's love that changed Valjean into a truly loving person. Cosette is the daughter of the distressed dying prostitute, Faintine. Cosette, however, is living with the Thernardiers, a truly evil family, and is treated horribly.