Les Misérables, Book 7: Patron-Minette, Chapter 2 summary
Book 7: Patron-Minette, Chapter 2 of 365 · 3 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 2, the narrator describes a criminal underworld driven by hunger, misery, and ignorance, and distinguishes its destructive aims from the work of progress. The argument identifies ignorance as the source of crime and presents its removal as a common task for human improvement.
What happens
- The narrator describes people whose suffering and urgent desires lead them toward crime rather than concern for others.
- He contrasts this destructive underworld with political and philosophical efforts directed toward progress.
- The cavern of evil threatens both the established social order and movements seeking to improve it.
- Philosophy and progress seek to eliminate crime by removing ignorance.
- The narrator insists on humanity’s shared condition and describes ignorance as a force that turns people toward evil.
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Quick check
What does the narrator identify as the way to destroy crime’s refuge?
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