Suicide In Javert's Les Miserables

After relentless hunting for Jean Veljean over the course of many years, Javert is unable to capture the convict while given multiple opportunities. When adversity hits Javert who is a man of the law in the book Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, the individual uses suicide as his solution to escape his inability to understand compassion. While everyone in the community has dealt with Javert’s unwavering commitment to the law, the people judge him, as they are unaware of his past which influences his actions. Despite public opinion, Javert takes his own life because of his upbringing and the mercy shown to him by Jean Veljean, which ruins his black and white world view.
Javert was not given many opportunities to succeed during the early stages …show more content…
Depression is feelings of severe despondency and dejection, which Javert felt due to the way he saw others not liking him and because he was still shaken, even as a grown man, by the way he was raised as a child. While researching about depression influence on suicide, I found that, “Over 50 percent of all people who die by suicide suffer from major depression” ("Suicide Statistics — AFSP," n.d.). Javert took his own life when he was a grown man, but considering the circumstances of his mental state it is actually impressive that he was strong enough to not take his life sooner. The statistic of, “1 in 100,000 children ages 10 to 14 die by suicide each year” ("Suicide Facts | SAVE," n.d.) show that it was impressive that Javert had enough persistence to battle through his teenage years while going through forms of depression. The novel and musical production only show Javert killing himself while jumping off the bridge, as we are told to believe it is his first attempt at suicide. Even though the story only displays the one scene of Javert suicide, I would reckon that the thought of suicide has come across Javert’s mind more than once, as he had strategical planned his death by jumping off a bridge into water where his body would drown and would never be seen again. “Over 44,000 people try to commit suicide each year in the United States” ("Suicide Facts | SAVE," n.d.). Even though it is not my right to say suicide should never be an option, as I have never dealt with depression or anxiety, an individual thinking that the world would be better off without them is very sad. When members of a community witness an individual struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide, they need to seek out that person and let them know they are wanted and valued. Nobody in the community went out of their