Les Miserables

A detailed Summary of Les Miserables

In his novel, Les Miserables, author Victor Hugo makes a strong statement about society being the cause for evil in man. Les Miserables is based on a poor man, Jean Valjean, who was arrested for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving baby. Valjean is sentenced to 20 years for his crime, and, when he is released, he is shunned for his past, which he has more than paid for. Society turns him out at every turn for his past crime, and will hear no excuses for his deed. With this scenario, Hugo shows the cruelty of a “civilized” world that would cause a man to suffer unending prejudice for stealing a single loaf of bread to feed a small child.

As the ill treatment continues, Valjean becomes more and more bitter toward society. He probably would have been pushed too far, and would have lashed out against his aggressors, if he had not been shown kindness by the church. Valjean was taken in by a kindly Bishop, who fed him and offered him a place to stay. Valjean, however, had already fallen partially from the light of reason and when all the others were asleep he stole the silver dinner ware and fled into the night. This act again can be blamed on society for Valjean, realizing that because of his crimi

As the story continues, Thenardier continues to appear and cause trouble for all around him. He organizes a small unsuccessful gang to murder Valjean. After their failing, Thenardier goes into hiding. He next appears in the sewers and charges Valjean, who is carrying a half dead Marius, to unlock the gate. Thenardier would surely have left them to die, however he did not recognize Valjean or Marius, both being covered in filth. Eventually, he did realize who he had seen and went immediately to Marius’s house to make one final attempt to ruin Valjean. Fortunately, his plan back-fired and he only succeeded in improving Marius’s opinion of Valjean.

The Thenardiers next appear conning wealthy families into giving them money with letters of pity. One of their potential victims is Valjean, who had taken Cosette from them years ago. When he brings his donation, which the Thenardiers believe to be too paltry, they attack Valjean, until the police arrive and stop them. Unfortunately, Javert has recognized Valjean and he is once again forced to go into hiding to escape society’s prejudices.

Hugo then introduced us to a family that represented everything wrong with society, the Thenardiers. They exemplified the greed, deceit, uncaring, and corruption of society, constantly doing harm to those around them. Hugo does not, however, believe that society is all-encumbering, for he does allow Va

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Approximate Word count = 950
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English