This chapter starts off back in the Thenardiers inn and what unfolds shouldn’t surprise us in the least. Where just the night before Madame Thenardier had been planning to kick Cosette out of the house for good, now she is upset that Monsieur Thenardier has “only” gotten 1500 francs for her. Hugo does a great job here of depicting the greed of the Thenardiers and the way that they viewed everyone as a potential victim to be squeezed.
“Exploit or be exploited” seems to be the Thenardiers basic approach to life. It’s not an unreasonable position to take when you realize that you are participating in a world that is marked by powerful people who enact and assert their power through violence. For the Thenardiers, they are merely taking up their position, avoiding those who would harm them, and actively pulling as much as they can through threats (physical, emotional, etc…) of violence.
There are other alternatives though, and it seems that Valjean is committed to exploring a life of love enacted through forgiveness without cowering before the threats and attacks of the violent. Rather than forking over more cash when threatened by Thenardier, Valjean responds by reframing the situation using the truth. He makes it clear that he is well aware of the exploitation of Fantine and Cosette and that he has gone above and beyond by paying 1500 francs. He also makes it clear that Thenardier will never see the child again. He gives Thenardier the letter from Fantine that demonstrates the rightness of all of this, and with confidence asserts his position and forces Thenardier to backoff.
To further cement Thenardier’s full commitment to a “might makes right” approach to reality, Hug has Thenardier continually reassert to himself that he wished he had brought his gun. In Thenardier’s mind power, not truth, was the deciding factor in his exchange with Valjea. We’ll see if that arises again as our narrative continues to unfold.