Les Misérables, Chapter 4 summary
Chapter 4 of 365 · Book 1: A Just Man · 12 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 4, the Bishop challenges selfishness, asks for help for the poor, and urges people to judge human faults with mercy and attention to circumstance. He comforts a condemned murderer through execution, but witnessing the guillotine deeply disturbs him and makes him question the human right to take life.
What happens
- The Bishop uses jokes and pointed replies to challenge pride in rank, inheritance, and grudging charity.
- He describes rural poverty, speaks local dialects, and connects wrongdoing with social neglect and lack of education.
- He questions a prosecutor’s conduct after hearing how deception makes a woman betray her lover.
- When the curé refuses to attend a condemned murderer, the Bishop comforts the prisoner and accompanies him onto the scaffold.
- The execution leaves him distressed, questioning human punishment and avoiding the execution site.
- He comforts sick, dying, and bereaved people through patient company and religious hope.
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Why does the Bishop attend the condemned murderer?
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