Hugo continued his work with the poor, the oppressed and the revolutionaries in that he fought and provided shelter where he could. His work was rewarded with his election as senator of Paris in 1876. Given his life of service to those in need, it is little wonder that his funeral was attended by two million people.
Clearly Valjean, like many other Hugo characters, share many characteristics with the author. While Hugo was not born into poverty, Valjean was helped by Monseigneur Myriel to achieve a level of wealth similar to that of Hugo. From this basis of power, both Valjean and Hugo work to uplift and empower the poor. Indeed, Hugo's sympathy with the plight of the poor does not diminish to his dying day, as his will determined that his coffin be carried on a bare carriage, the like of which was usually reserved for the funerals of the poor (Hamel 124).
Furthermore both Valjean and Hugo had ample opportunity to enjoy their wealth without further bothering with social issues. Perhaps for Valjean more than for Victor Hugo it does however make some sense to concern himself with the community of poor from which he came. Hugo on the other hand is inspired by his literary ideals to care for the social issues and be involved in changing systems where he saw the need (Kirjasto).
Another similarity is the way in which both Valjean and Hugo carried out their work in favor of the suffering masses under the guise of social position and respectability. This is what made both his literary and social efforts so effective. In literature Hugo did away with all pretense, unmasking the upper classes for their hypocrisy and cruelty, while also exposing the injustice that often is lost within the propaganda of politics. This propaganda is also criticized in Hugo's book. The Thenardier for example cater to the rich while abusing and neglecting the poor and helpless, such as Cosette. When Valjean exposes them for what they are, they do their best to keep up their pretense in their dealings with Cosette and her mother. Both the reader and Valjean however easily see through this hypocrisy.
Hugo and Valjean are contrasted however perhaps in their complexity. Whereas Valjean marks the simple progress of a man from poverty- and socially induced criminality to kindness-induced reform, Hugo as the creator of the character encompasses more than one diverse characters. Indeed, his thorough, methodical and high-principled methods of investigation match those of Javert. Hugo's character, as has been seen above, is however closer to that of Valjean in being sympathetic to the hunted instead of the hunter that Javert is. His innate humanity is the same as that of Valjean, who lifted the cart from the fallen victim despite marked danger to himself, his reputation and his hard-earned freedom.
In terms of the French Revolution, Hugo as poet somewhat romanticized the barricades (Kirjasto). This in the novel is done by means of the revolutionary soldiers. The fight at the barricades was for them an almost religious call to duty, and something for which they could die nobly. This romanticism is however soon lost when the reality of the wished-for "noble" deaths begin to actually occur. This effect is also found within the personality...
We will confine ourselves to saying that the love of Fantine was a first love, a sole love, a faithful love."(Hugo, 145) in the endeavor to survive and sustain her child she is forced to become a prostitute, thus enduring extreme humiliation. For Hugo thus, she represents another 'miserable' being, part of the dregs of society who is nevertheless pure and luminous because of her inner goodness, the divine
Victor Hugo Romantic Writings of Victor Hugo The romantic period was partly in reaction to the impact that the industrial revolution had on the psyches of artists of all stripes. The move toward an industrial culture had moved many people from the pastoral scenes of the country into the grungy hearts of the cities. Many of the people worked in the factories six days a week for many hours a day, or
Because of its strong ethical overtones and themes, Victor Hugo naturally gravitates towards imagery of light and darkness in Les Miserables. Light and darkness symbolize their respective moral poles, the binaries of good and evil, beneficence and maleficence, right and wrong. Drawing attention to ethical polarities helps the reader to better understand and appreciate moral ambiguity. The protagonist Jean Valjean epitomizes moral ambiguity, as the reader follows his journey from
religious themes of the three works mentioned, those being Les Miserables, Notes on Nursing and the Calling of Katie Makanya, are all fairly easy to see. A major fact about Les Miserables is that Jean Valjean spends a lot of time in jail for doing something relatively minor, stealing food to feed a starving family, and then this gets compounded three to four times over when Valjean tries to
Emotions of Love and Lust in the Works of Victor Hugo Victor Hugo is easily one of the major figures of world literature. Hugo has been responsible for painting some of the most compelling portraits of the struggle of the human condition and how certain emotional conditions continue to subsist among untold levels of depravity and suffering. One can examine The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables as portraits of
Through this experience, I realized that these characters could help other to understand themselves and to resolve the internal conflicts that drive young males in their actions. As I began to study the characters in the novel more closely, I began to realize that Valjean and Javert were not the only characters that represented Jungian archetypes. It became apparent that gaining a better understanding of the characters and the
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