In Les Miserables, why does Javert keep singing "2 4 6 oh 1" during th

Question:Take a combination of all the answers so far. They are all right in different degrees. The whole truth:

1. Valjean was in jail at the prison where Javert worked. His number there was 24601.

2. After Valjean leaves prison, he does right with his life and becomes mayor of a town and the owner of a large factory.

3. When "Confrontation" happens, Javert knows what Valjean has done but refuses to accept that a criminal can ever be anything but a criminal. He continues to refer to Valjean with his prison number as a way to demean him.

4. At every turn, Javert gets the better until during the night at the barricade when Valjean has the power to kill Javert but lets him go.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Take a combination of all the answers so far. They are all right in different degrees. The whole truth:

1. Valjean was in jail at the prison where Javert worked. His number there was 24601.

2. After Valjean leaves prison, he does right with his life and becomes mayor of a town and the owner of a large factory.

3. When "Confrontation" happens, Javert knows what Valjean has done but refuses to accept that a criminal can ever be anything but a criminal. He continues to refer to Valjean with his prison number as a way to demean him.

4. At every turn, Javert gets the better until during the night at the barricade when Valjean has the power to kill Javert but lets him go.

javert is trying to demean Valjean. By referring to him as a number, he's denying Valjean's humanity

Javert says this because Jean Valjean is in prison and they refer to people in prison as numbers.

Because that was Jean Valjean's number in prison, as it is easier for prison guards to remember numbers than names, and it enables them not to get too emotionally close to a prisoner. i guess javert just wants to taunt valjean and remind him of who he is/was.

Its simply his Prison number ! 24601

He wants Val Juan to know that he is NOTHING but a simple number. That his life has no meaning, no value, and no worth. That he will never look upon him as a person, but simply a prisoner, a number. No better no worse than any other low life piece of crap that rots behind a cell.

24601 was Jean Valjean's number when he was in prison. After escaping, Javert dedicates himself to tracking down Valjean and imprisoning him once again. When the two finally meet in "Confrontation", Javert refuses to acknowledge Valjean as a person, but rather a number and prisoner.