idea of the law. Not only does Javert’s hate come from Jean Valjean and him stealing, but also Fantine a poor struggling girl, who just needs help. Fantine, a single-mother, sent her child to live with innkeepers in another city, while she tries to earn money to send to her. Prostitution ends up being the only way she earn enough money to upkeep her child, which is illegal in 1830s Paris. However Fantine falls sick, for she is living on the streets of Paris, and is hurt by the men she has sex with
to retrieve Cosette. Realistically, many people would have simply fled rather than rescuing Cosette. He did so because justice dictated that he uphold his word to Fantine. Also, Cosette was being unjustly mistreated. So, Jean Valjean pursued justice by retrieving Cosette in order to provide justice for her and her late mother, Fantine. However, his sense of justice was so profound that he raised Cosette as his own child. This is demonstrated by the line, “She called him Father, and knew him by no
Victor Hugo made it so that the characters in Les Miserables progressed throughout the novel. The theme “progress” can be seen and used widely. Three main characters, Jean Valjean, Cossette, and Javert expressed positive and negative forms of growth. Jean Valjean began the story as an ex-convict who was searching for food and shelter after working in the galleys for sixteen years. Unfortunately, he failed to receive compassion from any lodging, or home. While he was wandering through the streets
security! God has caused it to happen, and it is not for me oppose the will of God.’” (Hugo 213) But Valjean’s mind continued to swirl and in the end, he revealed who he was and was arrested. Valjean escaped and adopted the daughter of a woman named Fantine whom he made a promise to on her death bed to care for her daughter Cosette. After taking in Cosette, Valjean transformed again into a loving protector. “The bishop had taught him the meaning of virtue; Cosette had now taught him the meaning of love
Inspector Javert is the primary antagonist character in the movie. He is seen treating Jean Valjean unfairly in the beginning of the movie because he was once a criminal who would never change in Javert's eyes. After his escape and avoidance of parole, Javert goes on to a search for Valjean. After, not seeing Valjean for a long period of time, he couldn't recognize him since he had gone on to become a successful businessman as well as a mayor, after his encounter with the Bishop. However, when Valjean
Prompt #3 Change can happen anywhere, to everyone whether it's big or small. But with change comes an outcome which can be good or bad. Le Misérables displays change in Jean Valjean and Javert physically, emotionally, and morally. Jean Valjean is a very important character who goes through so many changes. His moral character changes when he steals from the bishop and is taken back to him and the bishop forgives Valjean showing him compassion in a way that he has never received. When he emotionally
perceptions of the world. On Fantine, the power of forgiveness, embodied and exemplified through JVJ, allowed her to hope for a better future. Fantine had been condemned to a life of pain and suffering with guilt eating away at her after abandoning her child, “she reached the lowest of the low on the totem pole of life and is guilty of terrible sins”(63, photocopy). However after meeting Jean Valjean and seeing the effect that redemption can have on an individual, Fantine became liberated from her guilt
The historic novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo tells the story of several characters who fall victim to 19th-century French society. Fantine, a struggling single mother, is forced into circumstances that parallel what countless women face today. Unable to find work and falling behind on her debts to her child’s caretakers, Fantine is forced to sell all of her belongings, hair, teeth, and eventually her body. She did not choose to enter into prostitution, as many women today do not; they are forced
middle of paper ... ...re still very much relatable to modern-day society. Just as Victor Hugo demonstrated through the events surrounding Jean Valjean, there is still injustice within the criminal justice system. Today, there are still people, like Fantine, who barely manage to survive each day while society stands by and scorns or neglects them. Within the very webbings of the community, there are those that live off of others’ misfortunes. Les Miserables’ social commentary is still relevant to modern
simple fact; they needed money to live. Among this large group of women, there is a woman named Fantine. Victor Hugo uses the novel Les Miserables and the character Fantine to effectively portray the women subjected by hunger to highlight the importance of how love and compassion should guide one's actions. He shows this through her relationships with her family, Cosette, Tholomyes, and Jean Valjean.
the world more cautiously and be sure not to fall into society’s trap. Fantine was destroyed when she was fired and could no longer support herself. The female Thénardiers are broken when they lose Cosette and have no one to do work for them. Equally as important, Cosette is spoiled when she is treated like a slave by the Thénardiers. Fantine’s unemployment leads to the ruin of her pride, physical being and mental state. Fantine has no choice but to have the Thénardier’s watch over her daughter, Cosette
An unwed mother is the unfortunate being who bears a child out of wedlock, and she is someone who is shamed upon by the rest of the world. If one were to listen to a story of an unwed mother, all he/she would hear about is the whispering and pointing they experienced. For years, the shame of being an unwed mother forced many women to hide their secret or even give their children up. In the timeless novel of Les Miserables Victor Hugo uses the theme of social injustice to hint at the lifestyle of
honourably in successive years. Valjean spends his life working his way out of poverty, dealing with many different social classes and ways of life during the French Revolution. The characters Javert, Fantine and the bishop all demonstrate different approaches to life; Javert focusing on enforcing the law, Fantine willing to do anything to support her child, and the bishop demonstrating generosity and forgiveness towards Valjean's wrongdoings. As Valjean encounters each character, he learns to accept differing
and characters affected by it are Fantine, a single-mother trying to provide for her daughter, in the film “Les Miserables”, based on Victor Hugo’s experiences of the French Revolution then turned into a book, and the various female characters playing female inmates in the popular TV series “Orange is the New Black”, which is based on the personal experiential book written
which they are powerless to change. In the book Les Miserables, the Thenardiers take in Cosette. The Thenardiers are a middle class people who cherish money and the status it brings. When they get the chance to hook Fantine they gladly take it. They constantly demand money from Fantine to take care of her child, Cosette. She has no option but to sell herself in prostitution, scraping together the money that they demand. Though healthy and fine,
People change. Sometimes they change for good and sometimes the bad. It is an everyday thing. People can change by a simple act of kindness. In the book Les Miserables, Jean Valjean is arrested and put into jail for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family. After being released from prison and breaking parole, Valjean is having a hard time finding a place to stay. Since his papers said that he was a criminal, he was denied a place to stay. He finally stopped at a Bishop’s house where
The Persistence of the Past In life, no matter how hard one may try, it is impossible to escape from the past. The persistence of the past is a theme strongly expressed in the books The Kite Runner and Les Miserables. Multiple characters in both stories are haunted by both their past selves and actions. The past is what ends up driving crucial events in these stories to unfold how they do. There are characters who feel that they need to redeem their selves from their past such as Jean Valean from
process of people such as Javert, as that was as far as they could think. The rich and affluent ruled the poor to get whatever they wanted. Scene: A rich gentleman by the name of Bamatabois approached Fantine because he felt it was his right on Fantine to use her whichever way he pleased. Fantine tried to resist it, which did not sit well with Bamatabois because he was in power. Cultural Relativism: These rich men can treat women however they pleased, but the women of Fantine’s kind had no right
True virtue has no limits, but goes on and on, and especially holy charity, which is the virtue of virtues, and which having a definite object, would become infinite if it could meet with a heart capable of infinity. -St. Francis de Sales It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell. If, then, we possess charity, we possess God, for "God is Charity" (1 John 4:8) -St. Albert the Great The heartfelt emotion
Both St. Francis and St. Albert offer a strong understanding of what charity mean. Likewise so do Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo. In Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities and Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, love presents itself as the underlying leitmotif. Through the life-changing exchange between Bienvenu and Valjean, to Syndey Carton willingly giving his life in place of Darnay, all the way to Lucy Manette and Valjean saving lives of others through their selflessness, Hugo and Dickens deliver the