How we cite our quotes: (Part.Book.Chapter.Line)
Quote #7
"Well […] I may as well sell the rest." (1.5.10.57)
Time to really drive it home for Fantine. After selling her hair and her teeth, and working herself sick, she figures she might as well sell the "rest," a.k.a. turn to prostitution. Way to pile it on, Hugo! Sure, he might be exaggerating just a teeny bit, but the point here is to force us to see, over and over, how lack of compassion and understanding contribute to human suffering—the suffering of a specific human, not just some abstraction we can cluck our tongues and pray over.
Quote #8
They were eyes no longer, but had become those fathomless mirrors which in men who have known the depths of suffering may replace the conscious gaze, so that they no longer see reality but reflect the memory of past events. (4.3.8.15)
If Bishop Myriel is so compassionate that he's almost lost his humanity, this prisoner—the guy everyone thinks is Valjean—has suffered so much that he's almost lost his humanity, too. This guy has suffered so much that can't even see what's happening in front of him, but only the pain he's endured.
Quote #9
Both talked at once, and it was impossible to make out what they were saying because the voice of the younger was choked with misery and the teeth of the elder were chattering with cold. (4.6.2.5)
When Gavroche finds two young boys on the street, he realizes that these children have been thrown out of their house with nowhere to go. Luckily for them, Gavroche understands the streets and can make their suffering a little more bearable, even though he's just as poor and homeless as they are. Next time you're freaking out because your parents got you a black iPhone instead of a white one, we want you to remember this scene.