Miserables‚ by Victor Hugo‚ the protagonist‚ Jean Valjean changes throughout the course of the novel from a contemptible‚ conniving ex-convict to an noble‚ compassionate‚ and heroic man. During his time in jail‚ Jean Valjean’s heart becomes corrupted; he realizes the world detests him for who he is. However‚ a bishop named Myriel shows him great kindness and compassion for him‚ which transforms him forever. In a small town‚ Montreuil-sur-mer‚ Valjean restores economic and social balance as well as
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discusses the causes and results of revolution‚ and includes discourses on topics ranging from the Battle of Waterloo to Parisian street slang. But the two central themes that dominate the novel are the moral redemption of its main character‚ Jean Valjean‚ an ex-convict‚ and the moral redemption of a nation through revolution. The novel is a critical statement against human suffering‚ poverty‚ and ignorance. Its purpose is as much political as it is artistic. II | | VICTOR HUGO | As a novelist
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true rationalist. Like Medieval philosophers‚ he believes that people will naturally resort to evil‚ and that these people can never be saved or reformed. Javert is the true rationalist because he believes the law is the highest authority‚ sees Jean Valjean as purely evil‚ and because he wholeheartedly believes in the infallibility of the law. Javert believes the law is the highest authority throughout Les Miserables. When his character is first described‚ Hugo states "It will be easily understood
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divine justice and‚ through his characters‚ proves that the last one is always eventually established. The theme of justice starts out in the very beginning when Hugo shows how unfair human society is by introducing first characters: Jean Valjean and Fantine. Valjean is almost forced to steal some bread for his sister’s kids to keep them from starvation; nineteen years of galleys read pain‚ hatred‚ and suffering is his punishment. It is ridiculous and hyperbolic‚ but that’s what is assigned for
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the struggles of ex-convict JEAN VALJEAN and his experience of redemption. Hugo explains the work’s overarching structure: * A progress from evil to good * From justice to injustice * From falsehood to truth * From night to day * From corruption to life from bestiality to duty * From hell to heaven * From nothingness to God “The starting point: matter destination and the soul. The hydra at the beginning: the angel at the end.” JEAN VALJEAN: who becomes a force for good
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nature. Components of Romanticism and Realism are used by Hugo in order to successfully project his feelings about the plight of mankind. Various components of Romanticism and Realism can be found in Les Misérables‚ especially in the characters of Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert. Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement in the history of ideas‚ originating in Western Europe in the late 18th century. Romanticism stresses strong emotion‚ imagination‚ and overturning of previous social
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Les Miserables at its most basic is the story of Jean Valjean. He lived with his sister and her family in extreme poverty in France after the French Revolution. In one act of desperation he broke a window and stole a loaf of bread. His sentence was lengthened by multiple escape attempts until he was finally released 19 years later. His hardness and bitterness increased by the response he got when he was required to show his papers at each new town he visited‚ resulting in lower pay and refusal of
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a strong prisoner. Jean Valjean undergoes an internal conflict when he is torn between freeing an innocent man and thinking of the greater good. Valjean says‚ "He repressed his first generous impulse and recoiled before such heroism."Although Valjean turning himself in would mean reverting back to his old ways‚ it is what is values are pushing him to do. He would be tainting all he owned and stood for in sin if he decided to let Champmathieu pay for his errors. Valjean says‚ "…That henceforth
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Hugo’s sources came from what happened in his life. Jean Valjean’s character is based on the life of Eugene Francois Vidocq‚ an ex-convict who became a successful businessman. Vidocq helped Hugo with his research for Claude Gueux and Le Dernier jour d’un condamne (The Last Day of a Condemned Man). In 1828‚ Vidocq‚ already pardoned‚ saved one of the workers in his paper factory by lifting a heavy cart on his shoulders as Jean Valjean does. In 1841‚ Hugo saved a prostitute from arrest
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what makes them sometimes posses a bad personality. Another way Hugo is saying that human nature is good is when he makes all the characters‚ which resemble human beings‚ forgive their antagonist‚ be compassionate‚ and become unselfish just like Jean Valjean and Javert did by both freeing each other. Human nature is not bad because in the book human beings do not let their id take complete control of their decision making instead they let their superego and ego take part in their decision making. Another
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