In my Opinion the second half of the book was nowhere near as good as the first half. The second half was all about Marius and Cosette and the fight of the French Revolution. The second half wasn't as meaningful with all the kindness of Jean Valjean or as suspenseful, with the constant fear of Jean being found out. I will give you a short (as short as I can) summary of the last half of the book: Cosette and Marius are in love but done know they love each other but Jean Valjean knows and tries to stop Marius from going near Cosette or even looking at her so he moves. Marius finds Cosette and sneaks in the back to see her for two months. Then the French Revolution comes closer and Jean wants to leave and move to England. Marius is distraught over the move and decides that since he wont be able to be with Cosette he will fight in the battle and die there. He goes in to fight, but when he is wounded so badly that he thinks he will die, Jean Valjean goes to the battle and saves him. He sneaks Marius out, who is unconscious and leaves him at his house. Then the book gets good again for a minute when the policeman, Javert recognized him, but saw his goodness and let him go home. Then Cosette and Marius marry, but Jean Valjean is unhappy because he lost Cosette to Marius who forbade Jean to see her all the time because he found out about his criminal past. Jean becomes sickly and is about to die, when Marius discovers that Valjean was actually the one who saved him and was really a good person, so he takes Cosette with him to see Jean. Jean is overjoyed to see that Marius has forgiven him and dies happily after seeing Cosette one last time as Marius and Cosette sit at his sides.
I was happy that the book had a pretty happy ending, considering all the miserable events that surrounded these people's lives. In the beginning of the second half, I was sort of disappointed with Jean Valjean because of his attempt to keep Cosette from Marius. I also got annoyed at Cosette for never once mentioning Marius or that she wanted to see him. If she had just asked, I don't think Jean could have said no. Valjean not only kept Marius and Cosette apart, he actually began to hate Marius, which was kind of disappointing to me because he had been so good and kind before, but it seemed that he was reverted back to the way he was after prison. When Jean went to save Marius from the battle for Cosette, I was excited that the book was becoming better again and that Jean was doing the right thing again. My favorite part though was when Javert discovered who Jean Valjean was, but didn't turn him in. Throughout the book, Javert was very consistent and lawful. He did his job well and according to the rules exactly. He thought that was what was right and just and so that fact that he didn't turn Valjean in was really hard for him. Javert realized that Jean Valjean was a good, true man and didn't deserve to be in jail, but it was a conflict inside himself whether he should do his duty as a law enforcement or d his duty as a human. When he chose to do the humane thing, he realized everything he had believed about the law was wrong and he couldn't live the way he had always thought was right, so he killed himself.
At first, I wasn't happy with the ending where Jean Valjean died because I wanted him to get better on and live and see Cosette and Marius happy. But I realize that Jean was happy with himself and his life. The way he lived his life was the way he promised to live it and he had redeemed himself in his own eyes. He also knew that he had made Cosette happy and knowing that she loved him and that he had done what was right for her he had nothing else he needed to see or do alive. He died peacefully and happily and it was not a sad ending with his death. It was just an ending to the book and his life which was complete.
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