Part 3, Marius

Hugo, the old perv, introduces a favorite, the Paris gamin.

Homeless children of the streets, ages 7 through 12, who have doubtless been in all ages exactly what street kids are generally represented to be on contemporary TV.

See The Killing or Major Crimes.

But in Hugo's fictional world they are good-hearted and innocent.

Tom Sawyers and Huck Finns.

Uh huh.

In chapter after chapter, this radic-lib Mau Mauing the Flak Catchers sounds to me like one of those who cheer when the bakery workers spit in the dough, or the restaurant workers piss in the dishwasher. 

Les Miserables.