Justice In Les Misérables By Victor Hugo

During the political and controversial times of the nineteenth century, Victor Hugo used his characters to represent the lifesaving and life-taking abilities of mercy and justice, respectively, in his romantic novel, Les Misérables. Inspector Javert represents the ideology of justice in the novel, and he eventually shows the troubles of living with a completely impassive attitude toward those he deems as undeserving of freedom. Though justice seems to control the actions of the aforementioned inspector, Hugo shows that it is possible to overcome those who cause harm; as his soul died during his nineteen years in prison, convict Jean Valjean learns the importance of compassion as his soul is brought back from the dead.
Hugo’s intentions of portraying justice as a murderer are perfectly mirrored in the character Jean Valjean; he begins in the novel as a dead man. His physical body was intact while imprisoned, but part of him was, indeed, departed; in fact, he “had entered the …show more content…
He continues to steal, though his circumstances are different from those he faced during his first theft; Valjean took a loaf of bread to ensure the survival of his family when he was penniless, but he steals silver plates despite his possession of money for personal gain. Despite being undeserving of grace, he is shown it through Bishop Myriel, the only man who gives Valjean shelter. Giving Valjean candlesticks to sell in addition to the plates he already stole, the Bishops says, “Jean Valjean, my brother, you belong no longer to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I am buying for you” (Hugo 30). Bishop Myriel breathes life back into Jean Valjean with these words, showing him mercy during a time in which he is not deserving, rectifying the time in Valjean’s life when he was met with justice instead of mercy; this revolutionizes the rest of Jean Valjean’s