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I saw the movie version of this before reading it and I was utterly shook by the powerful nature of the story. When I read it I hoped for the same experience, instead I had one more powerful. In life there are few truly great men: there are few men that are truly and incorruptibly good. Jean Valjean is such a man; he is a paragon of goodliness: he is a superb character.

At the beginning of the novel he sacrifices everything: he steals a loaf of bread knowing full well of the consequences. He risks his freedom in order to save his starving family; he risks his mortality and his morality: he risks everything. He is a truly selfless man, a great man. And what are the consequences for trying to save a starving boy? What is the justice of the land?

Imprisonment.

Servitude.

Pure Corruption.



In this the author captures social injustice in its most brutal form; he shows the foolishness of unbending laws, of a system that refuses to open its eyes, and how the common man will always suffer under the yolk of the powerful. But, somehow, Valjean just about retains his decency and his humanity. Somehow in the face of sadistic ruling, he manages to remain Valjean; he even manages to better himself and improve the world around him. Yes, he makes a mistake that leads to the death of an innocent; yes, he was responsible for the snuffing of the life he ignored. However, he redeems himself in a truly extraordinary way, and eventually pays an even greater sacrifice. The world needs more men like Valjean.

Then if that wasn’t enough, Valjean even offers his nemesis forgiveness. He sees Javert for the product of society that he is; he looks at him and only sees pity rather than hatred, which would have been a much easier emotion to experience. Valjean does what few men would have the strength to do, and in the process shows his true inner-strength. Javert was fully responsible for his actions. He is a pitiable character. To his cold, singular, narrow-minded, law based logic, Valjean was a simple criminal. Nothing more, nothing less. Javert cannot look beyond the surface. He dedicated his life to preventing this villain form getting away. In this, he is as much a victim as Valjean. When he eventually realises the true errors of his ways, he is broken. He is no more. Javert is not the real villain: it is society.



And this is only one aspect of this superb novel. Javert and Valjean are not the only victims of this novel. Pushed aside, forgotten about, is the miserable Fantine. She represents the tragic state of women’s place in such a society. No one cares about her. She is just another woman in the street, another countless victim of misrule: someone to be trampled over. But, Valjean shows that life isn’t completely dark. From such corruption, a heart can remain true to itself and continue beating.