Les Miserables, first published in 1862 is the story of Jean Valjean, a man who was imprisoned for nineteen years after stealing bread to feed his sister’s starving family. When he is released from prison he finds himself on the run from an unforgiving police inspector Javert. The pursuit becomes Les Miserables ‘ central conflict as Valjean struggles between staying true to himself or committing crimes to survive and protect others. Les Miserables explores three themes: forgiveness, self-sacrifice, and courage.
Forgiveness is explored through several characters’ interactions with Jean Valjean throughout Les Miserables. Inspector Javert represents Les Miserables ‘ thematic exploration of forgiveness; he sees no place for mercy or forgiveness in the world, only compliance with the law. He believes that he must punish Valjean by refusing to show him any mercy or forgiveness despite Valjean’s repeated attempts at repentance throughout Les Miserables. This thematic exploration is further influenced through Marius Pontmercy, one of Les Miserables ‘ main characters.
Marius, whose father was executed as a nobleman during the French Revolution, struggles with forgiving his father for his political affiliations and resulting death. Through Les Miserables, both Javert and Marius learn to find forgiveness within themselves by showing compassion towards others. Les Miserables also explores self-sacrifice through many of its characters including Jean Valjean, Fantine, Cosette, Gavroche, and Les Amis de l’ABC. Les Miserables is full of characters who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the lives of others.
Jean Valjean risks capture by Javert time and time again in order to better protect Cosette, Fantine sacrifices her life after Valjean promises to take care of Cosette, Gavroche throws himself into battle with his fellow Les Amis de l’ABC members after all their hope seems lost; he returns unsought-for with three captured soldiers despite knowing that he will most likely be killed. All these examples raise Les Miserables ‘ question about self-sacrifice: how far should one go when taking a stand against evil? Are there any lines worth crossing?
Les Miserables explores this question through several characters throughout the novel. Les Miserables displays courage in many forms; Valjean’s seemingly endless will to live, Cosette’s refusal to be cowed by soldiers or Thenardier, Les Amis de l’ABC members’ determination to take their stand against the empire despite overwhelming odds are all examples of Les Miserables ‘ exploration of courage. The most notable display of courage in Les Miserables is Gavroche who throws himself into battle with others far older and more experienced than he.
Les Miserables asks the reader what it means to have courage when faced with an enemy you cannot defeat. Les Miserables questions whether there are truly any lines worth crossing if it means having the courage to stand up for what is right. Les Miserables explores these three themes throughout its pages. Les Miserables asks its readers whether or not any line is worth crossing when standing against an enemy you cannot defeat and how far one should go for the sake of mercy, forgiveness, and self-sacrifice. Les Miserables displays many examples of each theme through its characters and their decisions throughout Les Miserables.
Les Miserables ‘ exploration of these three themes is prevalent from beginning to end as Jean Valjean runs from Javert towards a better life with Cosette, builds his friendship with Marius who learns to find forgiveness within himself after seeing that he has been unjustly judgmental to others, and refuses to cow under the Empire’s threats when Les Amis de l’ABC decide to take their stand. Les Miserables ‘ exploration of these themes within its pages makes Les Miserables Les Miserables known to this day as one of the greatest novels ever written.
As readers of Les Miserables know, the themes of Les Miserables are numerous. The three major themes of Les Mis are forgiveness, self sacrifice, and courage . To begin with we will start with Les Miserables’s primary theme: forgiveness. This overarching theme is best shown through the character of Jean Valjean. Les Miserables begins with Valjean in prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving nephew. While imprisoned, Valjean meets and befriends four criminals who convinced him to steal silver from a bishop and flee with them when they escaped.
The four men were recaptured, but the police returned the silver to the bishop and told him that Valjean was also arrested; he is later shown mercy by this good man (the bishop). When Jean joins the battle in Waterloo, he encounters one of these four men (Feuilly) among other convicts conscripted onto Napoleon’s side, and saves him from death at the hands of these savage conscripts. This experience causes Jean to finally realize the full extent of his saintliness and forgives himself for stealing the bishop’s silver when he made a new start in life.
Jean Valjean goes on to become mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer, which was where Les Miserables takes place, and is pursued by the police inspector Javert (whom he once freed from arrest). Forgiving himself for past sins gave him his freedom; however, forgiveness does not come easy for Jean Valjean. When he saves the prostitute Fantine, who subsequently dies in his arms, it is too much for him and he confesses to Inspector Javert (to save another person) and drags them both into self-sacrifice by sentencing himself to exile in the galleys for life.
In Les Miserables, forgiveness is a struggle because of past wrongs and guilt that hold people back from forgiving themselves and others. Self-sacrifice is necessary to move on in Les Miserables. Without it there can be no forgiveness. The next major theme of Les Mis is self-sacrifice. This theme is best displayed by three characters: Jean Valjean, Fantine, and Eponine. As previously mentioned, Jean Valjean makes the ultimate self-sacrifice when he saves Inspector Javert that resulted in his exile into the galleys indefinitely without parole or escape (even nine years later).
Another case of self-sacrifice is shown through Fantine’s hard work while living on her own to earn money for her child Cosette’s wellbeing. Fantine becomes the breadwinner of the family, working hard at factory work while simultaneously selling her body to provide for herself and her child. Her self-sacrifice is rewarded when she dies in Jean Valjean’s arms. “God on high” rewards her with peace after seeing that her daughter will be well cared for by the Les Miserables characters (Valjean, Marius , and Cosette).
Eponine is perhaps Les Mis’s most tragic character because she exhibits all three themes of Les Miserables: forgiveness, self-sacrifice, and courage. She also lives through many hardships which Les Miserables focuses on: poverty, prostitution, and imprisonment. Les Miserables begins by showing her childhood in the slums of Paris, enduring abuse from her father while taking care of her siblings. Her self-sacrifice is shown throughout Les Mis, but best illustrated when she dies protecting Marius.
Eponine had developed a love for Marius through his frequent visits to her house looking for shelter from society, and it becomes one of Les Mis’s great tragedies that she died before confessing this love for him. Finally, Les Miserables centers around courage- this theme is most emphasized with Jean Valjean who must be courageous to escape the galleys on multiple occasions starting with stealing Bishop Myriel’s silver (Valjean was caught).