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LES MISERABLES Les Miserables is a story, a very long story, which has been
categorized as a classic. The story is about 1200 pages long. It is an epic
saga, which covers about three decades in the early 1800's of France. The film
is about the fugitive, Jean Valjean, following his release from jail after doing
nineteen years of hard labor for stealing bread. Jean Valjean is chased by the
cruel and self-righteous Inspector Javert, in a lifelong struggle to evade
capture. The novel, Les Miserables is internationally known. That is because of
its universal themes. These themes are: how society treats its outcasts, and how
it views its criminals, prejudice, justice, doing what is morally right, and
people can become better persons. The theme -how society treats its outcasts-
can be seen in how the poor and homeless are are treated, and that is like
animals.
The rich treat them as though they are inferior and that they have no
feelings or any form of intelligence. They are also not given the right to vote,
which makes them not citizens of that nation. This theme is universal because
every nation in the world has some sort of outcasts in their land. In America,
this theme can be related to the blacks. In the beginning of the twentieth
century they did not have as much rights and oppurtunities as the whites.
Another example of how this theme can be related to America is how a person with
a southern accent is perceived as less intelligent, which is a false
misconception. The theme -how criminals are viewed by society- can be seen by
how Jean Valjean is treated after he is released by prison. Although, he has
served a sentence of nineteen years, he is still chased and wanted. In that
period of time when a person commited theft it was viewed as a crime against the
community and that person should be punished to the most extremes. That theme
can be seen in modern America.
When a person commits a federal crime he\she
cannot hold a public job or teach for the rest of his\her life. Also, when a
person commits a crime, that person and that person's career is scarred for
life. The theme -doing what is morally right- can be seen in many instances in
the novel. One instance is Valjean gives money to free Cozzette. Another
instance is Valjean does not kill Javert to save his life. Also, Javert lets
Valjean go free. There are also times where people do something that is morally
wrong, but lawful. One might be when the students are executed. Another might be
the arrest of the prostitute. A present time situation might be soldiers killing
other soldiers. It is legal, but is morally wrong. In conclusion, the novel, Les
Miserables, is a universal book with themes that many people from many countries
can relate to. That is why it is put in the class of classics. It is also
popular because it can be related with present time situations and events.
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