“Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo: Narrator refers to himself as “we.” What is the reason for this nosism?

For example, the narrator says, “We must confess…” (1, p. 21).

And I suppose the usual explanation would be literary convention. Did most narrators of 19th-century French novels refer to themselves in the plural? I don’t know, but even if they did, why did they do it?

There are two reasons usually given for nosism (2). One is that the person is grander than the ordinary individual and represents many people, as in the royal or editorial “we.” Another purpose is to make the audience feel included, as when a writer seeks to engage the reader. But “We must confess” seems to be about the narrator, personally.

Is the narrator plural, in the sense of having multiple personality trait? As I continue to read, I will see if there is anything further to support that, or any related, possibility.

Les Misérables, which I have just started, is daunting in length, 1260 pages (1). And I don’t know whether I will see it through or how long it will take. But, so far, I am encouraged by the way it is written.

1. Victor Hugo. Les Misérables [1862]. Translated by Charles E. Wilbour. New York, The Modern Library, 1992.

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosism