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Crosson 1
Eric CrossonMrs
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WedgworthEnglish 1215
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224 March 2009 Thénardier Is Evil Thénardier is one hundred percent evil
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He has no redeeming qualities tomake up for the fact that he is a thief, extortionist, and a liar
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He is a parasiteon the hard working members of society, and regrets nothing he does
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He isincapable of change and does not grow from his experiences, as othercharacters in Les Misérables do
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 The very first time Monsieur Thénardier is mentioned in Les Misérables,he is extorting money from somebody
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He hasn't even made a physicalappearance yet, and already he is demanding more money from Fantine thanis necessary, or even reasonable
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He changes the payment to “not less thanseven franks [a month], and six months paid in advance
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” (44) And then ontop of the inflated rate per month to take care of Cosette, he adds an initialfifteen frank fee for “starting expenses
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” When the deal is struck, Thénardiertakes fifty seven out of eighty of Fantine's franks, cruelly forcing her to walkthe remaining distance to her destination because she could no longer affordtransportation
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A short while later, when Thénardier is in need of money again, he
 
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travels to Paris and pawns all of Cosette's beautiful clothes for a mere sixtyfranks
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Fantine had bought her many nice clothes, but Thénardier sold themall, and instead dressed her in rags
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He dressed her poorly, but treated hereven worse: “[he] fed her on the odds and ends, a little better than the dog,and a little worse than the cat
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” (46) And to extricate even more money fromFantine and Cosette, he increased the rate to twelve franks per month
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Thenwhen Thénardier learns that Cosette is an illegitimate child, he blackmailsFantine into paying an extra three franks a month, making the total fifteenfranks, over twice what the original price was
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He continues demanding thisoutrageous price, driving Fantine to cut off her beautiful hair for money andwork herself much harder than she should ever have to
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To keep Fantinesending large amounts of money, Thénardier lies to Cosette, telling her thatCosette needs a new coat in this terrible winter weather, and that Cosette issick and needs money for the doctor
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Although Thénardier loses his inn because he doesn't receive enoughbusiness to cover expenses, that should not condemn him to a life of crime
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 Jean Valjean was outcast as a criminal in the beginning of the book but by theend he is an extremely wealthy man who has a pristine reputation
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Peoplehave said in reference to Monsieur the Mayor: “there is a rich man who doesnot show pride
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” (53) Therefore, Thénardier's evil way of doing business washis choice, and he is not a victim
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Later, Thénardier appears as one Monsieur Fabantau Jondrette
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He isextremely poor, and deliberately makes himself and his family look poorer toobtain more money from alms givers
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For example, one day, when 'ThePhilanthropist' is on his way to his house, he quickly trashes his abode forappearance's sake
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He destroys his one chair, douses the fire, and, cruelest of all, he makes his young daughter punch out a pane of glass
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The glass cuts thegirl, who begins crying
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Madame Thénardier is outraged, and cries out:“You see now! What stupid things you are doing? Breaking your glass,she has cut herself!”“So much the better!” said the man
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“I knew she would
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” “How! So muchthe better?” resumed the woman
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“Silence!” replied the father
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(209) Thénardier wanted money so badly he was willing to endanger his owndaughter's safety to acquire a few extra franks
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Only a raving lunatic would goto such extreme measures for such a small reward
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He also obviously has noconcern for others at all, because he forces his own child into something aspainful and traumatic as that
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When “The Philanthropist,” who is actually Jean Valjean, arrives at the“Jondrette's” house, Monsieur Thénardier starts spewing lies in order to makehis life look as pathetic as possible
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This, he surmises, will maximize profitsthat he leeches off of others
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In the span of a few breaths he makes his lifeseem hopeless, saying
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