Les Miserables by Victor Hugo is one of the most well-known French novels ever written. Les Miserables Themes are also commonly taught in many secondary schools, especially in USA high schools. Les Miserables Les Miserables Themes include love, perspective, God, redemption and justice. Les Misérables can be seen as a novel that challenges the reader to consider Les Miserables Themes.
The novel Les Miserables Themes is set around 1775 in France and covers the period up until the Paris Uprising of 1832. Les Misérables Les Miserables Themes center on a man named Jean Valjean, who stole a loaf of bread for starving children and for this he was sent to jail and forced into slave labor for nineteen years. When Valjean was released from prison he found that no one wanted to help him find work because of his past.
The story follows Jean Valjean’s struggle for redemption in a world of poverty and crime. Les Miserables is about love, courage, sacrifice, honor and strength. Les Misérables is a novel where life can be at its worst, but there is still hope in the characters. Les Miserables themes show their good sides when they triumph over evil. Les Misérables Themes are unconditional love, forgiveness being stronger than hate, redemption from mistakes that have been made in the past and selfless acts of kindness.
One Les Miserables Theme is Redemption from Mistakes That Have Been Made In The Past . One example of this Les Miserable Theme was when Jean Valjean went to Bishop Myriel and told him that he was a thief and that he stole the silver. The Bishop gave it back to Jean Valjean and said it didn’t matter. This Les Miserables Theme of redemption is very important for Les Misérables because if people can redeem themselves from mistakes, they will be able to be forgiven.
Another Les Miserables Theme is Unconditional Love . One Les Misérables example of this Les Miserable Theme was when Fantine realized she had a daughter named Cosette and she would give her life just to see her one last time. Fantine sold her teeth and hair just so that she could send money to Cosette for food and clothes.
Another Les Miserables Example of unconditional love was when Valjean went to Fantine while she was dying and he promised her that he would take care of Cosette. Les Misérables Themes show that unconditional love is very important in Les Miserables because it proves how much people are willing to sacrifice for other people, even if they don’t know them.
Forgiveness being stronger than hate is another Les Miserable Theme. One Les Misérables example of forgiveness being stronger than hate is when the Bishop told Jean Valjean that no matter what he did, God would have him forgiven. Another Les Miserables example of this Les Miserable theme is when Javert was chasing Jean Valjean but eventually let Jean Valjean go. Les Miserables Themes show that Les Misérables is about forgiveness and the consequences of people’s actions.
Selfless Acts Of Kindness Is Another Les Miserable Theme. Les Miserables examples of this Les Miserable theme include when Jean Valjean gave his own food to a hungry man, Marius gave shelter to an injured man after he had been shot at Waterloo, Cosette helped take care of her sick father-in-law and also brought him medicine, Fantine sacrificed everything she could for her daughter Cosette.
The best example of this is when the protagonist, Marius Pontmercy takes a cross from a grave and puts it on top of Jean Valjean’s. This shows how Les Miserables views society as a whole. The second theme is -how society views its criminals-, which mean that society treats criminals as outcasts with no respect for the law whatsoever. An example of this is Javert always referring to Jean Valjean as -“the convict”.-
The third theme is prejudice, which means that Les Miserables hates people who discriminate others because they are either rich or poor, smart or not so smart. A notable example of this is during an uprising, where one man were saying: “Down with the army! Death to the officers! Death to Les Miserables!” The fourth theme is justice, which Les Mis views do what you are morally right. The best example of this is when Jean Valjean steals a piece of bread from the Thénardiers, but then gives it back saying: “I was wrong.”
The final Les Miserables theme is that people can become better persons. This happens many times during the novel. One notable example of this is when an old man had his wallet stolen by a child on him, and he said: “Go my boy, I am sorry I spoke harshly to you”, thus showing kindness towards him even though he just robbed him earlier.
One of the most important themes within Les Miserables is that of justice vs. injustice. This theme can be identified when examining Jean Valjean’s life before the Bishop’s candlesticks event and after the candlesticks event through to his death (after his release from prison). Jean Valjean serves 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread and then after his release, is forced into a life on the run to avoid re-arrest. After an encounter with a policeman while stealing silverware from M. and Mme. Magloire, Jean Valjean is imprisoned for breaking parole conditions.
The novel Les Miserables can be seen as a battle between injustice and justice within the events of Les Miserables. Another major theme in Les Miserables centers around poverty compared to wealth disparity. This theme becomes evident when examining the lives of Fantine, Valjean and Javert throughout Les Miserables: Fantine has fallen into poverty and prostitution due to her troubles supporting her daughter Cosette; she dies of tuberculosis at age 30 with nothing but a cross in her possession, having exhausted herself working to support her daughter while being met with injustice within society.
Valjean is a former convict who after his release from prison inherits Cosette and raises her as his own daughter, thus becoming wealthy for the first time in his life; however, at age 50, he decides to live a life of poverty and on the run from Javert in order to avoid stealing more silverware from M. and Mme. Magloire out of guilt. Javert spends his entire career attempting to capture Jean Valjean (to no avail), which allows him to climb the ranks of the police force; however, he dies by suicide due to feeling guilty about not killing Valjean when he had the opportunity.
Les Miserables demonstrates that wealth disparity can lead to poverty, and poverty can lead to wealth disparity. Another major Les Miserables theme is redemption/regret/pardon. Many of Les Miserables’ main characters are guilty of severe crimes, however they find it within themselves to feel remorse towards their respective past transgressions. Les Miserables primarily follows Jean Valjean throughout the novel; after stealing silverware from M. and Mme. Magloire, Valjean decides not to steal anymore because he feels regret for his initial act of thievery.
