What Jean Valjean and the Bishop Teach About Disordered Attachments

On an Arkansas-bound flight from the Steel City, I cracked my copy of Les Miserables, Victor Hugo’s sprawling epic about both societal and personal revolution. Perhaps you know the story, but if not, allow me to provide some salient bullet points.

A generous and gracious Bishop welcomes a cruel and hardened criminal, Jean Valjean, into his home for the evening.

After dinner and a few hours of fitful sleep, Valjean wakes, and plagued with the unshakeable thought of stealing the house silver,...