The Moral Arc Of Justice

Martin Luther King Jr., a world renowned civil rights activist once stated that ¨The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.¨ An arc is a smooth curve, composed of numerous points that connect to make something bigger. There are no sudden breaks or holes in an arc. The moral arc of the universe is a smooth path of righteousness, allowing different aspects of humanity to prevail and create a much bigger shape. When morality is followed and prioritized, the world can live in peace and harmony, without chaos. However, the world is not perfect due to justice. The rules of justice contradict the smooth arc of morality, abruptly breaking off from the connected line. At the ¨elbow of justice¨ there is a sharp turning point between
Exemplified in VIctor Hugo's novel Les Miserables, police inspector Javert demonstrates how the smooth arc of law is corrupted by rigid thinking involving the law, and how transformation allows for the construction of a better world, in which all men are equal. Justice and law are very powerful things, and when focused only on those, Javert becomes quite destructive in terms of the lives who fall underneath his. Javert does not see the moral arc described by Martin Luther King Jr., and instead only see the abrupt elbow of justice, which he believes is the only answer to anything. Throughout the novel Les Miserables, Hugo uses the characterization and plight of Javert to illustrate that law and order thinking commonly prevail in society, but once those in charge of the law recognize humanity’s suffering, a more just world is possible. Javert begins his character as someone attracted to rigid thinking regarding the law, and in turn poorly affects the lives of people like Jean Valjean and Fantine. Through these characters however, Javert is able to recognize his own ignorance and transform in order to help humanity become better as a
Javert pays no attention to the harm he causes to others around him, blinded by the notion that justice is the only road that can be followed. On one occasion, Fantine is walking down a street and is teased by a richer man looking to pick a fight. After she can’t take anymore of his antagonizing, Fantine hits the man, just in time for Javert to see. From around the corner, he is called to duty to protect the law, arresting her and taking her back to the court. Javert has Fantine´s fate in his hands and “It [is] one of those moments in which he [exercises] without restraint, but with all the scruples of a strict conscience, his formidable discretionary power. At this moment he [feels] that his policeman’s stool [is] a bench of justice...He [calls] all the ideas of which his mind [is] capable around the grand thing he [is] doing(70).” The power over the law which Javert has as a police inspector allows him to ¨exercise without restraint¨. He can do whatever he wants and in any matter as long as justice is being enforced and rules are followed at all costs. He has hesitation is his ¨strict conscience¨, and even though Fantine is clearly suffering at his mercy, morality is no match to Javert´s will to serve justice and use his daunting power when necessary. His stool, where he sits and declares guilt to those who fall