Jean Valjean Redemption

Can we really state that we know what a hard life is? Would you be transformed into a new person because of your trials and errors? Jean Valjean had to endure many tough struggles and challenges through his life. In the book Les Miserables, Victor Hugo demonstrates how Jean has to deal with suffering and overcomes many obstacles that stand in his way because of his past experiences and wrongdoings. However, as Valjean works through these circumstances his entire life and personality change. All of these hardships transformed him from being a criminal into a peaceful and caring person. It is very obvious that Jean Valjean shows redemption from the crimes he committed in the past through his actions of becoming an honest man. These characteristics …show more content…
This is evident because Jean Valjean loved Cosette very much and made it a goal of his to take care of her and be by her side forever. Jean Valjean was “A father who loved Cosette and worshipped her, and for whom that child was light, was home, was his homeland, was paradise.” Valjean showed a great amount of self-sacrifice by allowing Marius to marry Cosette since he had never loved anyone or anything before he found Cosette. His whole life became centered around pleasing and giving Cosette the best care possible at all times. She was all he had. At one point he tries to hide Cosette but receives a letter from Marius stating his love for Cosette. Valjean decides to give Cosette a chance at love. Something he never had. When Jean Valjean finally reveals his true past of committing crimes and being in prison to Marius it shows sacrifice because of what had happened and leaves Marius in shock. After this Jean Valjean also shows a type of sacrifice as he announces that he has decided to spend less time with Cosette. With this expense he becomes full of loneliness which eventually ends up killing …show more content…
Jean may be an ex-convict, but forgiveness from others has given him a heart made of gold and flashes of doing good deeds for others. He has enough sparks to transform himself into an honest man after the forgiving soul of the bishop. Jean Valjean was not a man of integrity or of trust before his encounter. “He seldom spoke and never smiled. It took some extreme emotion to wring from him, perhaps once or twice a year, the sour convict-chuckle that is like the laughter of demons.” The bishop’s forgiveness is a pivotal moment in Jean Valjean’s transformation because it will fuel all of his selfless and caring acts he does for others. He will have changed from a distorted convict into a man that will devote his entire life to pleasing others and following through with the promises he makes. Jean Valjean has become revitalized from his past crimes by developing into a new and honest man. He is able to state that he has had a number of hardships throughout his life. This has been shown in many different situations that involved Valjean being a loyal and self- sacrificing individual along with forgiveness from others and himself. Valjean’s journey was meant to show that goodness and peace come from love and forgiveness. His death gave him peace. Afterall, isn’t Valjean’s ending what each of us want for ourselves? Really, a new