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The convict Jean Valjean is released from a French prison after serving nineteen

years for stealing a loaf of bread and for subsequent attempts to escape from

prison. When Valjean arrives at the town of Digne no one is willing to give him

shelter because he is an e!"convict. Desperate Valjean #noc#s on the door of $.

$yriel the #indly bishop of Digne. $yriel treats Valjean with #indness and Valjean

repays the bishop by stealing his silverware. When the police arrest Valjean $yrielcovers for him claiming that the silverware was a gift. The authorities release

Valjean and $yriel ma#es him promise to become an honest man. %ager to ful&ll his

promise Valjean mas#s his identity and enters the town of $ontreuil"sur"mer. 'nder

the assumed name of $adeleine Valjean invents an ingenious manufacturing

process that brings the town prosperity. (e eventually becomes the town)s mayor.

Fantine a young woman from $ontreuil lives in *aris. +he falls in love with

Tholomy,s a wealthy student who gets her pregnant and then abandons her.

Fantine returns to her home village with her daughter -osette. n the way to

$ontreuil however Fantine reali/es that she will never be able to &nd wor# if the

townspeople #now that she has an illegitimate child. 0n the town of $ontfermeil shemeets the Th1nardiers a family that runs the local inn. The Th1nardiers agree to

loo# after -osette as long as Fantine sends them a monthly allowance.

0n $ontreuil Fantine &nds wor# in $adeleine)s factory. Fantine)s cowor#ers &nd out

about -osette however and Fantine is &red. The Th1nardiers demand more money

to support -osette and Fantine resorts to prostitution to ma#e ends meet. ne

night Javert $ontreuil)s police chief arrests Fantine. +he is to be sent to prison but

$adeleine intervenes. Fantine has fallen ill and when she longs to see -osette

$adeleine promises to send for her. First however he must contend with Javert

who has discovered $adeleine)s criminal past. Javert tells $adeleine that a man has

been accused of being Jean Valjean and $adeleine confesses his true identity.

Javert shows up to arrest Valjean while Valjean is at Fantine)s bedside and Fantine

dies from the shoc#.

2fter a few years Valjean escapes from prison and heads to $ontfermeil where he

is able to buy -osette from the Th1nardiers. The Th1nardiers turn out to be a family

of scoundrels who abuse -osette while spoiling their own two daughters %ponine

and 2/elma. Valjean and -osette move to a run"down part of *aris. Javert discovers

their hideout however and they are forced to 3ee. They &nd refuge in a convent

where -osette attends school and Valjean wor#s as a gardener.

$arius *ontmercy is a young man who lives with his wealthy grandfather $.

4illenormand. 5ecause of political di6erences within the family $arius has never

met his father 4eorges *ontmercy. 2fter his father dies however $arius learns

more about him and comes to admire his father)s democratic politics. 2ngry with his

grandfather $arius moves out of 4illenormand)s house and lives as a poor young

law student. While in law school $arius associates with a group of radical students

the Friends of the 25- who are led by the charismatic %njolras. ne day $arius



sees -osette at a public par#. 0t is love at &rst sight but the protective Valjean does

his utmost to prevent -osette and $arius from ever meeting. Their paths cross once

again however when Valjean ma#es a charitable visit to $arius)s poor neighbors

the Jondrettes. The Jondrettes are in fact the Th1nardiers who have lost their inn

and moved to *aris under an assumed name. 2fter Valjean leaves Th1nardier

announces a plan to rob Valjean when he returns. 2larmed $arius alerts the localpolice inspector who turns out to be Javert. The ambush is foiled and the

Th1nardiers are arrested but Valjean escapes before Javert can identify him.

Th1nardier)s daughter %ponine who is in love with $arius helps $arius discover

-osette)s whereabouts. $arius is &nally able to ma#e contact with -osette and the

two declare their love for each other. Valjean however soon shatters their

happiness. Worried that he will lose -osette and unnerved by political unrest in the

city Valjean announces that he and -osette are moving to %ngland. 0n desperation

$arius runs to his grandfather $. 4illenormand to as# for $. 4illenormand)spermission to marry -osette. Their meeting ends in a bitter argument. When $arius

returns to -osette she and Valjean have disappeared. (eartbro#en $arius decides

to join his radical student friends who have started a political uprising. 2rmed with

two pistols $arius heads for the barricades.

ean Valjean

Jean Valjean stands at the center of 7es $is1rables and becomes a trial &gure for(ugo)s grand theories about the redemptive power of compassion and love. Valjean

goes into prison a simple and decent man but his time in jail has a seemingly

irreversible e6ect on him and he emerges from the chain gang a hardened criminal

who hates society for what it has done to him. 5y the time Valjean encounters $.

$yriel in Digne he is so accustomed to being a social pariah that he almost see#s

out such abuse greeting even the #indly bishop with scorn and hatred. $yriel

however turns out to be the &rst person in decades to treat Valjean with love and

respect. The meeting with $yriel forever changes Valjean)s character as $yriel

ma#es Valjean promise to become an honest man.

nce Valjean opens up his heart he becomes a testament to the redemptive power

of love and compassion. (is hard wor# and new vision transform the derelict town of

$ontreuil"sur"mer into a thriving manufacturing center which in turn teaches

Valjean the value of philanthropy. 0n ta#ing care of -osette Valjean learns how to

love another person and how to pass that love onto others. (e is e!ceptional

only in his physical strength and his willingness to discover what is good and this

earnestness is enough to ma#e him the novel)s hero as well as a savior and a friend



to a number of people who &nd themselves in danger. (ardened by prison and

rescued by the #indness of $. $yriel Valjean is a blank slate, molded by his

encounters and circumstances. This ability to change ma#es him a universal

symbol of hope8if he can learn love and charity after su6ering so much injustice

anyone can.

-osette

-osette like Valjean, grows up in an atmosphere of poverty and fear but

she is rescued from this life before her innocence gives way to cynicism. Though

she spends a number of years under the tyrannical care of the Th1nardiers she

never adopts their cruel views which indicates that she possesses a fundamental

decency and goodness that they lac#. nce Valjean ta#es charge of -osette)s

upbringing she quic#ly transforms from a dirty unhappy child into a lovely well"

educated young woman. For (ugo this transformation is so natural that he does not

even bother to wal# us through it and instead s#ips several years ahead.

Though she is obedient and &ercely loyal to her adoptive father -osette also has

her own personality which emerges as she enters adolescence and begins to

hunger for a less sheltered life. 0n this period of their lives Valjean)s role temporarily

changes from -osette)s savior to her jailer. -osette)s ability to truly love $arius

however is due in large part to Valjean who has taught her to trust and love. 0n the

end -osette remains true to her upbringing and her love for $arius becomes her

way of applying to her own life what she has learned from Valjean.

Javert

Javert is so obsessed with enforcing society)s laws and morals that he does not

reali/e he is living by mista#en assumptions8a tragic and ironic 3aw in a man who

believes so strongly in enforcing what he believes is right. 2lthough Javert is such a

stern and in3e!ible character that it is hard to sympathi/e with him he lives with

the shame of #nowing that his own 4ypsy upbringing is not so di6erent from the

bac#grounds of the men he pursues. (e lives his life trying to erase this shame

through his strict commitment to upholding the law.

Javert)s 3aw however is that he never stops to question whether the lawsthemselves are just. 0n his mind a man is guilty when the law declares him so.

When Valjean &nally gives Javert irrefutable proof that a man is not necessarily evil

just because the law says he is Javert is incapable of reconciling this new

#nowledge with his beliefs. (e commits suicide plagued by the thought that he may

be living a dishonorable life. True to Javert)s nature he ma#es this decision not with

any emotional hysterics but rather with a cool determination. 2lthough he is a man



of logic he is impassioned about his wor#. To this end (ugo frequently uses animal

imagery to describe Javert particularly when he li#ens him to a tiger. 0n the end it is

di9cult to feel anything other than pity for Javert who assumes his duty with such

savagery that he seems more animal than man.

$arius *ontmercy

'nli#e the other major characters in the novel $arius grows up in a well"to"do

household free of &nancial worries. :onetheless his family is split apart by politics

and it is not until he develops his own personality that he is able to become whole.

$arius)s loyalties are torn between his father 4eorges *ontmercy who is a colonel

in the :apol1onic army and his staunchly monarchist grandfather $. 4illenormand

who raises him. The political di6erences between his father and grandfather

threaten to tear apart $arius)s identity as he learns that his conservativegrandfather intentionally prevented him from establishing a relationship with his

father out of fear that $arius would succumb to his father)s liberal political views.

2ngry and confused $arius adopts his father)s beliefs but it soon becomes

apparent that what he really needs is an idealism of his own. $arius begins to

develop truly only when he leaves 4illenormand)s house &nding himself and falling

in love for the &rst time.

$arius is more innocent than the other characters in the novel and while this

innocence #eeps him from becoming cruel or cynical it also ma#es him occasionally

blind to the problems of others. This lac# of perception &rst becomes clear in

$arius)s treatment of %ponine and becomes especially unattractive when $arius

drives Valjean from his house. 0n the end $arius is a good person but his inability

to perceive the needs or feeling of others can at times ma#e him unwittingly

malicious.

Fantine

2lthough all of Fantine)s misfortunes are caused by the callousness or greed of

others society always holds her accountable for her behavior. 0n this sense she

embodies (ugo)s view that French society demands the most from those to whom itgives the least. Fantine is a poor wor#ing"class girl from the desolate seacoast town

of $ontreuil"sur"mer an orphan who has almost no education and can neither read

nor write. Fantine is inevitably betrayed by the people she does trust; Tholomy,s

gets her pregnant and then disappears< the Th1nardiers ta#e -osette and use the

child to e!tort more money< and Fantine)s cowor#ers have her &red for indecency. 0n

his descriptions of Fantine)s life and death (ugo highlights the unfair attitude of



French society toward women and the poor. Fantine)s fellow citi/ens critici/e her for

her behavior and depravity but they also ta#e every opportunity to ma#e her

circumstances even more desperate.

(ugo)s portrayal of Fantine)s mistreatment distinguishes the honest hardwor#ing

poor from the parasitic opportunism of the wor#ing"class Th1nardiers. 5y ju!taposing Fantine with the Th1nardiers (ugo suggests that poverty does not

necessarily equal indecency. 0n doing so he condemns a system that allows the

indecent poor to survive even as it crushes the honest and needy.

hemes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas e!plored in a literary wor#.

The 0mportance of 7ove and -ompassion

0n 7es $is1rables (ugo asserts that love and compassion are the most important

gifts one person can give another and that always displaying these qualities should

be the most important goal in life. Valjean)s transformation from a hate"&lled and

hardened criminal into a well"respected philanthropist epitomi/es (ugo)s emphasis

on love for it is only by learning to love others that Valjean is able to improve

himself. While Valjean)s e6orts on behalf of others inevitably cause him problems

they also give him a sense of happiness and ful&llment that he has never beforefelt. Valjean)s love for others8in particular for -osette8is what #eeps him going in

desperate times.

(ugo also ma#es clear that loving others while di9cult is not always a than#less

tas# and he uses Valjean and Fauchelevent to show that love begets love and

compassion begets compassion. Valjean jumps out of a crowd of onloo#ers to rescueFauchelevent< years later Fauchelevent repays Valjean)s bravery by o6ering him

refuge in the convent of *etit"*icpus. 0n (ugo)s novel love and compassion are

nearly infectious passed on from one person to another. 2fter $. $yriel transforms

Valjean with acts of trust and a6ection Valjean in turn is able to impart this

compassion to -osette rescuing her from the corrupting cruelty of the Th1nardiers.

-osette)s love then reaches ful&llment through her marriage to $arius and their

love for each other leads them both to forgive Valjean for his criminal past.



+ocial 0njustice in :ineteenth"-entury France

(ugo uses his novel to condemn the unjust class-based structure ofnineteenth-century France showing time and again that the society)s structure

turns good innocent people into beggars and criminals. (ugo focuses on three

areas that particularly need reform: education, criminal justice, and the

treatment of women. (e conveys much of his message through the character of

Fantine a symbol for the many good but impoverished women driven to despair and

death by a cruel society. 2fter Fantine is abandoned by her aristocratic lover

Tholomy,s her reputation is indelibly soiled by the fact that she has an illegitimate

child. (er e6orts to hide this fact are ruined by her lac# of education8the scribe to

whom Fantine dictates her letters reveals her secret to the whole town. 0ronically it

is not until the factory &res Fantine for immorality that she resorts to prostitution. 0n

the character of Fantine (ugo demonstrates the hypocrisy of a society that fails to

educate girls and ostraci/es women such as Fantine while encouraging the behavior

of men such as Tholomy,s .

(ugo casts an even more critical eye on law enforcement. The character of Valjean

reveals how the French criminal"justice system transforms a simple bread thief into

a career criminal. The only e6ect of Valjean)s nineteen years of mistreatment on the

chain gang is that he becomes snea#y and vicious8a sharp contrast to the e6ect of

$yriel)s #indness which sets Valjean on the right path almost overnight. 2nother

contrast to Valjean)s plight is the selective manner in which the *arisian police deal

with the *atron"$inette crime ring. 'nli#e Valjean *atron"$inette and their

associates are real criminals who rob and murder on a grand scale but they receive

only short sentences in prisons that are easy to escape. 0n the French society of 7es

$is1rables therefore justice is clumsy at best. 0t barely punishes the worst

criminals but tears apart the lives of people who commit petty crimes.

The 7ong"Term %6ects of the French =evolution on French +ociety

0n 7es $is1rables (ugo traces the social impact of the numerous revolutions

insurrections and e!ecutions that too# place in late eighteenth" and early

nineteenth"century France. 5y chronicling the rise and fall of :apol1on as well as

the restoration and subsequent decline of the 5ourbon monarchy (ugo gives us a

sense of the perpetual uncertainty that political events imposed upon daily life.

Though (ugo)s sympathies are with republican movements rather than with the



monarchy he critici/es all of the regimes since the French =evolution of >?@A for

their inability to deal e6ectively with social injustice or eliminate France)s rigid class

system. (ugo describes the 5attle of Waterloo for instance in glowing terms but

reminds us that at the end of the glorious battle the old blights of society li#e the

grave robbers still remain. +imilarly the battle at the barricade is both heroic and

futile8a few soldiers are #illed but the insurgents are slaughtered withoutachieving anything. The revolution that (ugo champions is a moral one in which

the old system of greed and corruption is replaced by one of compassion. 2lthough

both :apol1on and the students at the barricade come closer to espousing these

values than the French monarchs do these are not values than can be imposed

through violence. 0ndeed (ugo shows that :apol1on and the students at the

barricades topple as easily as the monarchy.

$otifs

$otifs are recurring structures contrasts and literary devices that can help to

develop and inform the te!t)s major themes.

The *light of the rphan

The prevalence of orphans and unusual family structures in 7es $is1rables is the

most obvious indicator that French society and politics in the period described have

gone terribly wrong. Valjean Fantine -osette $arius 4avroche *ontmercy and4illenormand are all separated from their family or loved ones for economic or

political reasons. $arius embodies the disastrous e6ects of politics on family

structure torn as he is between 4illenormand)s monarchism and *ontmercy)s

embrace of :apol1on. +ocial instability and poverty meanwhile ma#e orphans of

-osette Valjean Fantine and 4avroche. With the e!ception of 4avroche whose

home life is so wretched that he is probably better o6 on his own these characters

are unhappy and lonely because they are separated from their parents and have no

one to turn to when they most need help.

Disguises and *seudonyms

2 number of characters in the novel operate under pseudonyms or in disguise and

these deliberate changes in identity become the distinctive mar# of the criminal



world. Th1nardier is a prime e!ample; at one point in the novel he masquerades

under the name Jondrette and we see that he has adopted other pseudonyms at

the same time. Valjean who uses pseudonyms to hide his past rather than to

continue his criminal behavior inhabits his alter egos more thoroughly. %ven

Valjean)s disguises while not as dishonorable as Th1nardier)s are an unful&lling

way of living and the &rst thing Valjean does after -osette)s marriage is shed hisfa#e name in front of his new family. Disguises and pseudonyms are a means of

survival for the novel)s characters but (ugo believes that life is about more than

mere survival. 'ltimately one of the most important distinctions between the

honest characters and the criminals is the willingness of the honest characters to

set aside their alter egos and reveal themselves for who they truly are.

=esurrection

When a character in 7es $is1rables learns a major lesson about life this reali/ation

is often accompanied by a physical resurrection. Valjean undergoes the largest

number of reincarnations each of which denotes that he is another step away from

his old moral depravity. 2fter his encounter with $yriel for instance Valjean

reinvents himself as $adeleine and he leaves this identity behind when he

pretends to drown in the waters of Toulon. The epitome of this resurrection motif is

the ruse with the co9n that Valjean devises in order to remain at the convent of

*etit"*icpus. Valjean is not the only one to undergo such resurrections however.

When $arius &nally recovers si! months after being wounded at the barricades he

is a di6erent man from the love"stric#en suitor who goes to &ght. 2lthough he doesnot assume a new identity $arius needs to e!perience a metaphorical death before

he can reconcile himself with his grandfather and successfully court -osette.

+ymbols

+ymbols are objects characters &gures and colors used to represent abstract ideas

or concepts.

$yriel)s +ilver -andlestic#s

$. $yriel)s candlestic#s are the most prominent symbol of compassion in 7es

$is1rables and they shed a light that always brings love and hope. 2t the beginning

of the novel (ugo uses the contrast between light and dar#ness to underscore the



di6erences between $yriel an upstanding citi/en and Valjean a dar# brooding

&gure seemingly incapable of love. When $yriel gives Valjean his silver

candlestic#s $yriel is literally passing on this light as he tells Valjean he must

promise to become an honest man. +ubsequently the candlestic#s reappear

frequently to remind Valjean of his duty. When Valjean dies the candlestic#s shine

brightly across his face a symbolic a9rmation that he has attained his goal of loveand compassion.

+na#es 0nsects and 5irds

When describing the novel)s main characters (ugo uses animal imagery to

accentuate these characters) qualities of good and evil. The orphaned &gures of

-osette and 4avroche are frequently referred to as creatures of 3ight; -osette as a

lar# and 4avroche as a 3y. The Th1nardiers on the other hand are described assna#es and -osette)s time among them is li#ened to living with beetles. These

opposing symbols suggest that whereas -osette and 4avroche can rise above their

miserable circumstances the Th1nardiers are rooted in their immoral pursuits. They

are creatures of the earth which means that they are not as free as -osette or

4avroche who can 3y wherever they please.

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les miserables doc.docx