I confess I hadn't devoted a lot of thought to Montparnasse, but I like this a lot. It makes good sense to me, based on what we see, and I can completely buy it as explaining what we see of his relationships with both Gavroche and Eponine. (I can also believe him as a terrible amoral self-absorbed person who thinks of a small handful of people as actually, you know, people to him and deserving of some level of loyalty, but who has no interest in generalizing that out to other human beings outside that tiny circle.)
That said, I can completely see Thenardier believing that it's transactional in the way it's often interpreted as being. Thenardier sees the world in transactions and con games.
no subject
I confess I hadn't devoted a lot of thought to Montparnasse, but I like this a lot. It makes good sense to me, based on what we see, and I can completely buy it as explaining what we see of his relationships with both Gavroche and Eponine. (I can also believe him as a terrible amoral self-absorbed person who thinks of a small handful of people as actually, you know, people to him and deserving of some level of loyalty, but who has no interest in generalizing that out to other human beings outside that tiny circle.)
That said, I can completely see Thenardier believing that it's transactional in the way it's often interpreted as being. Thenardier sees the world in transactions and con games.