Coming in a bit late here, but if I can just add a big WOW YES WOW to pilf's Communion Meals post. ESPECIALLY the part about the outsider becoming aware that he has a door open, and it's his choice whether to be a part of the community. Just. Wow. The relationship between the meal and the subsequent Low Point is really interesting to consider. For Valjean, I think it's pretty clear that the bishop's kindness specifically drove him to steal the candlesticks. He had this moment of "Wait, the world's not rejecting me? But why not? I thought I was Bad?" And I think that in order to make sense of this, he had to prove to himself that he really was Bad. Or rather, he had to make himself Bad, so that they could reject him again. The grace of acceptance frightened him too much. And for Grantaire, too, he hit his Low Point because he was reminded that he was a part of something. And that HURT, not so much because he didn't deserve it, but because that Something were all about to go get themselves killed. So like Valjean, he distanced himself to make it hurt less. Ultimately, though, the meal showed them both that they had a choice to be a part of something, that they weren't locked out as much as they wished they could be (because wouldn't that make everything easier?), and that whether or not they belonged to humanity was their choice. And they both chose to say, "J'en suis."
sleep-deprived ramblings
The relationship between the meal and the subsequent Low Point is really interesting to consider. For Valjean, I think it's pretty clear that the bishop's kindness specifically drove him to steal the candlesticks. He had this moment of "Wait, the world's not rejecting me? But why not? I thought I was Bad?" And I think that in order to make sense of this, he had to prove to himself that he really was Bad. Or rather, he had to make himself Bad, so that they could reject him again. The grace of acceptance frightened him too much.
And for Grantaire, too, he hit his Low Point because he was reminded that he was a part of something. And that HURT, not so much because he didn't deserve it, but because that Something were all about to go get themselves killed. So like Valjean, he distanced himself to make it hurt less.
Ultimately, though, the meal showed them both that they had a choice to be a part of something, that they weren't locked out as much as they wished they could be (because wouldn't that make everything easier?), and that whether or not they belonged to humanity was their choice.
And they both chose to say, "J'en suis."