Foil

Character Role Analysis

Jean Valjean and Thénardier

As good as Jean Valjean is to other people, Thénardier is equally as bad. While Jean Valjean dedicates his life to helping others, Thénardier dedicates his to cheating as many people out of money as possible. At first, he does this by running a tavern and hotel. But once that fails, he becomes a con man. When that's a no-go, he decides to become a full-blown thief. And then when that blows up in his face? He decides to go into the slave trade.