Georges Pontmercy Character Analysis in Les Miserables

A timid, shy man who nevertheless becomes a successful colonel under Napoleon. He believes he was “saved” by Thenardier at Waterloo, though in fact Thenardier merely was trying to rob the corpses on the battlefield. He marries Gillenormand’s daughter and they have a son, Marius, but Gillenormand doesn’t approve of the colonel’s politics and so prevents him from seeing his son. Only after his death does the colonel become Marius’s hero.

Georges Pontmercy Character Timeline in Les Miserables

The timeline below shows where the character Georges Pontmercy appears in Les Miserables. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

History, Revolution, and Progress Theme Icon

...now flee. The officer asked his name: it was Thenardier. The officer said his was Pontmercy. (full context)

Mystery and Knowledge in Paris Theme Icon

Chapter 2 At Vernon around that time could be seen a 50-year-old man, Georges Pontmercy, living alone and working often in his garden. He was timid and shy. As a... (full context)

Though Pontmercy adores his son Marius, the boy’s grandfather, Gillenormand, had threatened to disinherit him if Pontmercy... (full context)

...next evening. A woman answers the door, weeping, and points him towards a ground-floor room. Pontmercy had been attacked by brain fever three days previously, and he has just died; his... (full context)

...day be rich. He lived at Vernon and was called something like Pontmarie or Montpercy. “Pontmercy,” Marius suggests, and reveals to the old man that he is the son. (full context)

...a young man in a cabriolet with a tag on his luggage that says “Marius Pontmercy.” Bossuet calls out to him and says he was looking for him. He hadn’t been... (full context)

...had told Leblanc to purchase: he can recognize a battleground and a man carrying another—it’s Pontmercy and Thenardier at Waterloo. (full context)