How Does Les Miserables Show Sacrifice

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In the novel Les Miserables, Victor Hugo the author shows us examples of the relationship between sacrifice and love throughout the novel.Three examples the author uses is what Eponine does for Marius, what Jean Valjean does for Cosette, and what Fantine does for Cosette. As we know as readers, Eponine was deeply in love with Marius. Eponine knowing that Marius was on his way to the barricade went after him and ended up taking the bullet for him. This shows that Eponine was willing to sacrifice anything for her love Marius even if it meant her own life. Another example of this was what Jean Valjean had done for Cosette due to his love for her. First off, when Marius went in the barricade Jean Valjean went after him and risked his life in order to save …show more content…
He also sacrificed losing Cosette for good when he told the truth to Marius about how he was an ex convict. This lead to Marius into thinking that Jean Valjean robbed the money he gave to them and that he was the one that killed Javert. Thénardier however, told Marius that Jean Valjean was actually not these things. This explains that Jean Valjean sacrificed a lot due to his love for Cosette because when he told Marius that he was an ex convict Marius did not accept him for that and thought worse of him. Then this lead to Jean Valjean dying. Another example for someone who will sacrifice anything for the person they love is Fantine who will do anything for her lovely daughter Cosette. She went to work at a factory, turned to prostitution, and did other things as well in order to pay the Thénardiers to take care of Cosette. Fantine's only goal was to take care of her daughter and she tried everything in her power to do so until the day she died. I think that love is truly powerful in this novel because without love these characters would not make these sacrifices they had

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