How we cite our quotes: (Part.Book.Chapter.Line)
Quote #4
Excess of work exhausted Fantine, and the small, dry cough from which she suffered grew worse. (1.5.9.12)
Like we said, everyone suffers. But if this book were some sort of suffering Olympics, Fantine would be taking home the gold in every category. Even when she's trying to work her way honestly (i.e., without sex work) out of poverty, she can't catch a break. Instead, she just catches tuberculosis.
Quote #5
She could not earn enough and her debts grew. The Thénardiers bombarded her with letters, heartrending in tone and ominous in their exactions. (1.5.10.2)
Fantine can barely make enough money to feed herself. But the Thénardiers (her daughter's guardians) and remorseless in the way they keep demanding money from her. Even in the midst of one person's terrible suffering, it looks like there are some people in this world who will only make things worse.
Quote #6
She smiled as she said it, and the candle lighted her face. It was a bloodstained smile. There were flecks of blood at the corners of her mouth and a wide gap beneath her upper lip. (1.5.10.53)
Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse for Fantine (innocence gone, kid gone, job gone, hair gone), she sells her teeth in order to pay for medicine that her daughter Cosette doesn't even have. Of all the images of suffering in this book, this one is probably the most brutal.