Les Misérables, By Victor Hugo

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Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy." One challenge that has measured men for centuries is the struggle of poverty. The gap between rich and poor is an important issue in all time periods, but it is especially present in 19th century France. In Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, a few of the characters experience an impoverished lifestyle and it dramatically changes how their characters are shaped. Through actions of Gavroche, Marius, and Monsieur Thenardier, Victor Hugo shows that different moral values change the way people deal with and work to survive poverty.
Gavroche demonstrates that a positive character and strongly valuing freedom can lead one …show more content…

Even during the time when he is only part of the lower middle class, Monsieur Thenardier commits crimes and deceives others because he is materialistic and values money above honesty. He demonstrates this by stealing from soldiers of Napoleon that had been killed during the Battle of Waterloo. Thenardier not only steals, but when caught stealing from a soldier, he lies saying that he was saving the soldier’s life. This already shows a low level of integrity and morality, but his values become even more immoral when he becomes impoverished. When he comes across Jean Valjean, whom he thinks is extremely wealthy, he captures him and plots to steal from him as well as “‘execute him’”. At this point, Thenardier is so poor and in deep debt from gambling, so he is extremely desperate for money. A stronger man with higher moral convictions would turn to labor and hard work, but because of Thenardier’s character, he becomes a criminal. Poverty accentuates Monsieur Thenardier’s traits of dishonestly and criminality because he lacks strong

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