Les Miserables Analysis

Hannah Kent, in Burial Rites and Billie August in Les Miserables explore a variety of injustices as a product of prejudice by revealing the flaws of their Nineteenth Century social system. Although Kent released her novel in the 21st century, she thoroughly presents Nineteenth Century Iceland in all its formidable culture of prejudice and hardship to the same extent that August explores Nineteenth Century France in Les Miserables. Though both authors propose that one’s preconception of another rests in the position of their social class, August presents that as one’s social class changes, the prejudice changes towards them changes. This is different to Kent as she entices the readers to see the nature of men and their prejudice towards women
In her experience of travelling to the location, historically known for its tales of crime and punishment, Kent uses Iceland’s bleak weather filled with ‘darkening skies and cold winds’ to set the tone for the exploration of an old tale that reflects the significant amount of judgment and injustice that existed within Iceland. Although different in physical setting, August portrays France in its era of economic struggle and proletariat unrest through techniques of panning and lighting to reveal the ignorance in which the upper class unknowingly revel in as the lower classes suffer with economic hardships. August uses wide panning shots over the female factory workers to show the state in which the females are treated, the working conditions that are common all over France, and the monotony of the town so the audience is able to empathise with the situation that France is faced with. August uses the protagonist of the film, Jean Val Jean, to react to this social and economic state of France through stealing, to feed himself, in which he pays for with ‘19 years in chains’. This in turn represents the injustice that the lower class is faced, as a result of prejudice against Val Jean, as this crime sticks with him throughout the film. Augusts shows how the social and cultural setting, affects how people
Both authors differ to a large extent in their use of the denouement as August uses it to rid the issue of injustice whereas Kent uses it to entice as much empathy for the protagonist as she can. Throughout the film, August consistently explores the judgments and injustices of the characters until the end of the film where the removal of prejudice leads to justice. In this ending scene, Augusts’ use of the score is crucial as it provides a contrast between the suspense and relief in the freedom of Val Jean and the death of Ja vert. As Ja vert ‘spares’ Val Jeans life, August slows the motion of Ja verts fall into the water to show the final resolution of the ‘death’ to prejudice as he then follows this with an intense score as Val Jean contemplates the freedom that he has been granted. As Val Jean walks away, the score changes to a hopeful tone portraying that he is no longer a victim to injustice as the antagonist represented the very essence of prejudice. Dissimilarly, Kent chooses the denouement to not be resolved explicitly like August but for it to be embedded emotionally in the readers through implicit and realistic closure. Unlike Val Jean, Agnes does not face freedom from her injustice as readers may hope. Instead, through extensive use of imagery, symbolism and metaphor Kent conveys to the readers everything that