Victor Hugo’s Les Misèrables is a classic novel that demonstrates how a child is unable to mature in darkness. In the book, Fantine, gets pregnant and is left alone with her child, Cosette. Fantine searches for a place where Cosette can stay while she goes out to work. When she finds the right house she leaves her child, little did Fantine know that Cosette was going to be mistreated and miserable. On Fantine’s death bed, she begs Jean Valjean to find and take care of her child. In Victor Hugo’s novel, Les Misèrables, Cosette is a symbol of the child atrophy by darkness through her time spent with the Thènardiers, her transformation with Jean Valjean, and her flourishing into a young woman. Victor Hugo uses Cosette to represent the children of the time period and how they cannot grow without love and light.
To show how Cosette is unable to grow in darkness, Hugo makes the reader feel sympathy for the poor little girl. When Cosette is a young child, her mother gives her to an innkeeper and his family, the Thènardiers, so that she can find work and provide for herself and her child. Cosette is young, small, and afraid in this strange house. Hugo writes, “In this place she was called the Lark. People like figurative names and were pleased thus to name this little being, not larger than a bird, trembling, frightened, and shivering, awake every morning first in all the house and village. Only the poor lark never sang” (Hugo 49). Cosette is older than the innkeeper’s children, but since she is also smaller, the other girls boss her around and blame her for things she does not do. She is forced to be a servant, and she never plays or has fun. As a result of the Thènardiers control, Cosette is unable to have a normal childhood and seem...
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...pays her little mind. He sees her with her father every day for about a year, but then does not see them again for about six months. However, the next time he does see them, Cosette “was no longer the school-girl…taste had come to her with beauty” (163). Marius still saw her as a child, but over time, he saw her transform into a beautiful young woman.
In Les Misèrables, Cosette represents the child atrophy by darkness when she stayed with the Thènardiers, the new beginning with Jean Valjean, and her developing into a young lady. Every child should be allowed to be themselves and have fun while they are young. Cosette is a symbol that a child who is in the dark cannot grow or succeed, because Cosette was rescued by Valjean she is able to flourish from the small, timid lark into a confident, beautiful young lady. Should any child be kept in the dark and to flourish?
Les Misérables truly shows Victor Hugo idea through Jean, Javert and Thénardier that perseption is not allways truthful. No one is nessisarily how they apear to be. In times past it was commonplace to judge things based on there apearence. But now we can hope that less people will judge a book by its cover.
In Francie’s youth, the reader learns that the small joyous things are the true elation
The reader is first introduced to Francie when she is at the age of eleven. Francie is an average, normal girl growing up in Brooklyn in the year 1912. She doesn't have many friends and her family doesn't have much money, however she enjoys reading and is constantly finding ways to amuse herself. Being as young and innocent as she is, life seems nearly perfect for Francie. Eventually though, Francie realizes that this isn't the case and, in a sense, looses a bit of her innocence.
As child, Margaret was raised primarily by her mother and grandmother; her father had been taken hostage in Dijon, Burgundy when she was only a few years old. With her mother in charge of her education, Margaret was able to study with the same tutors who taught her brothers until the age of fift...
It is quite ridiculous how much Marguerite’s happiness lies in her husband Sir Percy Blakeney alias the Scarlet Pimpernel. One of Marguerite’s major struggles throughout the story is getting him to love her again, and until she did she could not sleep peacefully. Her husband who goes to France to save the aristocrats is in danger of being guillotined on his missions. Armand, her brother and a member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel who is entrusted to bring the fugitives to Pere Blanchard’s Hut, is in equal danger of execution. Yet Marguerite cares only for the husband she realized she loved the night before, while completely ignoring the brother who helped raise her. “My brother!” she cries when Sir Andrews points this out. “Heaven help me but I fear I had forgotten.” She later screams, “No! no! no! no! Oh, God in heaven! this cannot be! let Armand's blood then be on her own head! let her be branded as his murderer! let even he, whom she loved, despise and loathe her for this, but God! oh God! save him at any cost!” The very man whom she called “the only being in the world who has loved . . . truly and constantly,” the man for whose safety she spied on the Scarlet Pimpernel, is cast aside for the foppish husband she fell in love with only yesterday. Marguerite’s life is centered on Percy to the point ...
A nod of acknowledgement and understanding should descend upon every head that has read Querelle and is aware that Jean Genet is the author after looking at the above two quotes. Genet’s fiction might after all be a coalition of artistically twisted facts. The nod might grow more vigorous after a quick skim through even the most basic of the French writer’s biography. It is then that the acknowledgement and understanding combine into generalization that an author’s life somehow reflects through his work. It is precisely when a reader is exposed to Genet’s history that Querelle begins to strip out of its secrets. Suddenly the protagonist can be sympathized, Nono’s feminine bursts seem consistent with the plot and Genet himself could be seen between lines. Historicism plays a significant role in a greater appreciation of an artist’s composition.
...cruelty. Although love sometimes disguises itself, it always finds a way to survive even in the darkest of places. Valjean and Manette turned their lives around, through the love of others. Lucy and Bienvenu served as saving graces for many by loving people when nobody else id. Consequently the true meaning of love surfaces most prominently in the lives of the unfortunate, hence all the characters within the novels depict love. The thriving of charity presents itself through simple acts, but ultimately in the giving up one’s life for another. For love lives in the hearts of the people, but reveals itself their actions. Thus in acting out of love, one defines love, and displays it for the world to see.
In Les Miserables, Victor Hugo portrays human nature in a neutral state. Humans are born with neither good nor bad instincts, but rather society affects our actions and thoughts. Hugo portrays the neutral state of mind through Jean Valjean and Cosette. The two extremes of good and evil are represented through Thénardier and the bishop. Good and evil coexists in the society and affects Valjean and Cosette. It is the two extremes of good and evil that dictate the lives of Valjean and Cosette. The bishop represents charity and love. Everything he's ever had, he gave to charity. When the bishop first met Valjean, he said, "You need not tell me who you are. This is not my house; it is the house of Christ. It does not ask any comer whether he has a name, but whether he has an affliction. You are suffering; you are hungry and thirsty; be welcome. And do not thank me; do not tell me that I take you into my house..... whatever is here is yours." (pg. 15-16) The bishop didn't look at him as a convict; he looked at him as a fellow brother. Later, when the bishop found out that Valjean stole his silver, he wasn't mad, but offered all of his silver to Valjean saying, "Don't forget that you promised me to use this silver to become an honest man." Thénardier, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of the bishop. He represents the corruptive nature of society. He's the one that changes people for the bad. An example of how Thénardier represents greed and evil is how he...
In the story of “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, there are many literary themes that can be analyzed such as love, racism, gender inequality, and miscegenation. What this analysis will focus on is primarily on the central male character, Armand Aubigny, and on his views towards racism. More specifically, what this essay will aim to prove is that Armand Aubigny looked down upon the African race to the point where he hated them. One of the biggest driving points to aid this idea is how his family name shaped his behavior and actions according to the societal normalities of his time period. Another important aspect that will be considered is his very relationship towards his slaves in how he treated them cruelly even to the point where he is described as “having the spirit of Satan” (Chopin 3). In addition to this, the reader will also see Armand’s negative reaction to being aware of the implications of his son and wife having mixed blood in where he practically disowns them. With all this culminating to Armand finding out the ugly truth that the race he had treated so horribly is actually a part of his very own blood as well.
The Infant Child plays a huge role in Blanche’s early life. As a result of her mother’s death, Blanche has a fearful temperament, and
The relationship shared by Pierre and Helene is best described as a lustful charade. It is no coincidence that Pierre, one of the most introspective characters in the novel, first marries a shallow, inwardly-ugly adulterer. His first recorded attitude towards Helene is one of admira...
The characters in the novel lead a slave life throughout which depicts the poverty stricken lifestyle of people of 18th century. Rather than providing a physical description of the happenings, Voltaire has explained the incidents in details. For instance, the grave digger and the slave’s cloths highlight the poverty in which they survive and the slavery practiced by the masters on them. Voltaire retains the names of the slaves till the end mainly with the intention to depict how the human life is disregarded in society. The term “grave” is used throughout the text to denote the society’s attitude. It is significant to note that Candide first calls Voltaire “mon ami” which shows the author’s attitude toward slavery. Also, the treatment of slavery is clearly brought out in the text. Masters disrespect slaves and render brutal treatment. Slaves are bound to accept the ill treatment of their masters and serve them throughout their life. Voltaire here satirizes Leibniz’s optimism philosophy. The optimistic views which is personified through Pangloss contrasts with the views of Candide’s opinion. In addition, slavery was largely practiced mainly for monetary gains. The slaves were sold by their mother for mere pennies. Also, class system was clearly established in the text. The masters were called “les Blancs” and animals that appear in the book represent different social classes within the
Imprisoned in the “cardboard world” for a long time, Antoinette feels so lonely. “Long ago when I was a child and very lonely I tried to kiss her”(Rhys 180). She thinks of her childhood, and she does not remember many things. Undoubtedly, she becomes more abnormal. “One morning when I woke I ached all over. Not the cold, another sort of ache. I saw that my wrists were red and swollen”(181). Something bad has happened to the poor woman. “Grace said, ‘I suppose you’re going to tell me that you don’t remember anything about last night’”(181). Grace’s words imply that Antoinette often forget about something. A submissive wife is changed by her husband’s indifference-- she endures loneliness, coldness and despair.
In the painting Beside the River by Agnes Gardener King (Book 1, p. 22) the girl portrays the Romantic view of childhood which sees a child as an innocent and guiltless. That approach is mainly observed in Victorian fine art and book illustrations. Like the girl in the painting, romantic view looks for the goodness in the child. The white dress, the girl, the tress and lamb are symbols of the innocence. The painting looks peaceful, the colours are calm; the girl walks slowly and smiles gently. That type of image was the main massage of the Romantic discourse of childhood. The concept was greatly influenced by the eighteenth-century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), who wrote a book ‘Emile’ which became one of the most important textbooks of French ...
“Les Misérables Historical Context.” Novels for Students. Sheryl Ciccarelli, Marie Rose Naipierkowski. Detroit: Gale Research, 1999. 242-244. Print.