Les Misérables, Book 2: The Great Bourgeois, Chapter 6 summary

What happens

1. Magnon, a dismissed maid, sends M. Gillenormand a newborn boy and claims that he is the father.
2. Although his household reacts with outrage, Gillenormand feels flattered, denies fatherhood, and orders care for the baby.
3. When Magnon sends another boy the following year, he returns both children and promises eighty francs monthly for their upkeep.
4. He insists on good treatment for the boys and visits them, showing a generosity contrasted with his brother’s worthless alms.
5. An account of a dishonest inheritance deal shows his demand for grandeur even in the way others cheat him.
6. The narrator describes his two daughters and his contempt for the younger daughter’s military husband.

What to notice

M. Gillenormand separates his denial of fatherhood from the baby’s need for care. His response shows kindness beneath his vanity.

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