Les Misérables
by Victor Hugo
List Price: $5.99
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0671504398
Publisher: Pocket Books
The book which the
reader now holds in his hands, from one end to the other...treats the
advance from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from falsity to
truth, from darkness to daylight, from blind appetite to conscience, from
decay to life, from bestiality to duty, from Heaven to Hell, from Limbo
to God. Matter itself is the starting point, and the point of arrival
is the soul.
—Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
Twenty years in the conception
and execution, Les Misérables was first published in France and Belgium
in 1862, a year which found Victor Hugo in exile from his beloved France.
Enemies and admirers throughout the world devoured his works—poetry,
political tracts, and fiction—and the effect of these works upon
the public was always sensational. On the morning of 15 May, a mob filled
the streets around Pagnerre's book shop, eyeing the stacks of copies of
Les Misérables that stretched between floor and ceiling. A few hours
later, they had all—thousands of books—been sold. Hugo's critics
were quick to condemn him for making money by dramatizing the misery of
the poor, while the poor themselves bought, read, and discussed his book
in unprecedented numbers. True to Hugo's political stance, he had written
a book about the people that was for the people, a book that demanded
a change in society's judgement of its citizens.
The story is set between 1815
and 1832, the years of Hugo's youth. The descriptions of Paris, the characterizations
of Gavroche and other Parisian stock characters, and such statements as,
"To err is human, to stroll is Parisian" all attest to Hugo's unswerving
adoration of his home city. Exile no doubt encouraged the romantic meanderings
of Hugo's prose. The protagonist of Les Misérables, Jean Valjean,
is also in exile from the world of men because of the desperate crime
he committed in his youth. Liberated from prison, Valjean hides his identity
and becomes a successful man, as charitable as he is rich and powerful.
His altruism leads him to promise Fantine, a dying prostitute, that he
will seek out her exploited young daughter Cosette after her death. The
ensuing love between "father" and "daughter" (Cosette) is miraculous,
redeeming Valjean and bestowing happiness on his otherwise grim life.
To some extent, Hugo also was seeking redemption, having, for much of
his youth, ignored the populist concerns of Republican France. He sacrificed
his lifestyle in Paris for justice, and Les Misérables, "the
Magna Carta of the human race," is a testament of this humanitarian awakening.
The Revolution and Republic
of France had failed to redress the unconscionable social conditions in
which many French citizens languished. Les Misérables became
an expression of and an inspiration for that attempt. Hugo initially entitled
his work, Les Misère ("the poverty"), but changed it to Les Misérables,
which, in Hugo's time, denoted everyone from the poor to the outcasts
and insurrectionists. In Hugo's lifetime, the schism between "haves" and
"have-nots" was vast; an unbalanced economy made jobs scarce for those
who earned their living by work. This was an era without a welfare system,
unemployment benefits, or worker's compensation. The closest thing to
a homeless shelter was prison, a macabre dungeon where inmates slept on
bare planks and ate rancid food. To this place the disabled, insane, hungry,
or desperate citizens of France eventually found their way. The one hope
of the poor for relief was charity from those who were, if not indifferent
to their plight, outright hostile to it.
Les Misérables
vindicates those members of society forced by unemployment and starvation
to commit crimes—in Jean Valjean's case, the theft of a loaf of bread—who
are thereafter outcast from society. It is fairly common parlance today
to suggest that prison creates more hardened criminals than it reforms,
but the idea was radical to Hugo's contemporaries. "Perrot de Chezelles,
in an 'Examination of Les Misérables,' defended the excellence of
a State which persecuted convicts even after their release, and derided
the notion that poverty and ignorance had anything to do with crime. Criminals
were evil."1 Jean Valjean morally surpasses characters working on behalf
of this excellent State. The poor and the disenfranchised understood Hugo's
message, accepted the affirmation he gave them, and worshipped him as
their spokesman. Workers pooled their money to buy the book not one of
them could afford on their own. The struggling people of France had found
an articulate illustration of the unjust forces arrayed against them.
Hugo's gift to the people simultaneously
affirms that every citizen is important to the health of the nation and
emphasizes how that fact gives each individual responsibility for the
conditions we all share. Hugo sees the world as a convoluted pattern:
"Nothing is truly small...within that inexhaustible compass, from the
sun to the grub, there is no room for disdain; each thing needs every
other thing." He illustrates a system full of injustice, but in that same
sphere, a single gesture of kindness redeems the world; he shows us a
civilization based on self-interest and profit, but in one generous act
the possibilities of a better world become manifest; he portrays people
who regard their neighbors with suspicion and contempt, but with one vow
of love, humanity's faith is born anew. Les Misérables is
one of history's greatest manifestos of hope for humankind.
The immense popularity of this
story has not diminished over time. Since the original 1935 film version,
there have been several other international films entitled Les Misérables
including a Spring 1998 release starring Liam Neeson and Uma Thurman.
The "most popular musical in the world" has toured the globe several times
and has been running on Broadway since March 1987. Why does this story
continue to charm and inspire audiences and readers? In our time, as there
was in Hugo's, there is cause for despair: greed and violence undermine
true progress; human life is rendered meaningless through materialism
and nihilism; children the world over suffer neglect, poverty, and ignorance.
Who does not identify with Jean Valjean's arduous journey through the
sewers, and who does not long for an escape like his emergence into the
pristine Parisian dusk? Hugo illustrates how the most profound revolution
takes place in our individual consciences, how every moment we are faced
with decisions to do right or wrong, and how to make in our hearts pitched
battles against our own worst impulses. Les Misérables incites
us to make the best fight of our lives the fight to become authentically
good people and gives us hope that our efforts will not be in vain. Time
cannot change the necessity or urgency of that message—only people
can.
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1. How did Bishop Bienvenu's visit to the dying revolutionary G—change him? What about this man surprised the Bishop and why? How are the Revolutionary ideals espoused by G— similar to or different from the pure Christian ideals of the Bishop?
2. Why did Jean Valjean steal the Bishop's silver? How was this act influenced by his experience in prison? Discuss the process of change that occurred in Valjean after the Bishop "bought back his soul from Satan" with the silver. Would this bargain have been successful with every person? Why was Valjean subject to such transformation?
3. Discuss what you know about the French Revolution and its cultural echoes in France. Could this story of Valjean's redemption be told in another historical context? In what ways is this story dependent on and independent of its setting?
4. How would you characterize Hugo's political and nationalist stance based on his description of the Battle of Waterloo and his account of other political events? Can his loyalties—Monarchist, Bonapartist, nationalist, humanist, etc.—be discerned and defined?
5. Marius's friends die in the July Revolution. What values were they defending? What do you think Hugo values in these heroic characters and how does his description of them show this?
6. Hugo inserts a rather scathing aside about the nature of Fame in Part I, chapter one: "Prosperity presupposes ability." Jean Valjean is an example of a man who is exceptional in many significant ways, who positively and profoundly affects the lives of people around him, and who lives and dies in absolute obscurity. This portrait is drawn by a man who was inarguably the most famous man in France, literally "a legend in his own time." How can fame adversely influence one's ability to do good in the world? How does Valjean safely covet his obscurity, and how does this obscurity contribute to the good deeds Valjean habitually performs?
7. Cosette was never more fortunate than when she left the home of the socially "respectable" Thénardiers to be raised by a feared ex-convict. How is this an indictment of Hugo's society's criteria for respectability? What are the Thénardiers symbolic or symptomatic of?
8. One of the most psychologically complex characters is Javert, who— though he plays the role of a villain—acts not out of malice but out of a sense of duty to what he truly believes is ethically correct. How would you define Javert's value system? There is a weak link in Javert's chain of rationalizations for his behavior and his life. Identify it and explain how it leads to Javert's suicide. At which points in the book does Hugo show Javert to advantage? At which points does Javert appear to be more a classic villain?
9. Hugo clearly adores Paris. How is the street urchin Gavroche symbolic of the city in which he runs rampant? If he is truly a "son of Paris," which attributes did he inherit from his "mother"? Compare Hugo's descriptions of Paris to his descriptions of the French countryside and smaller cities. How do Parisians differ from denizens of the rest of France? Are these differences slight or serious?
10. Compare the musical Les Misérables to the book. What is left out, emphasized, or added? How does the change of medium effect the pace and tone of the story? To what do you attribute the long-running success of the musical?
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