Transcendence In Victor Hugo's Les Miserables

Transcendence Victor Hugo is one of the most celebrated authors of the 19th century. He was known to use tragedy and destruction and change it into something beautiful and good (Weingarter 5). In the book that Hugo is most famous for, Les Miserable, he captures this human transcendence at its best with the character Jean Valjean. (Hugo vii) After nineteen years of human depravity in prison, Valjean is left with a heart full of bitterness and animosity: (Hugo 25). Throughout the book, you can see the ongoing struggle in Valjean’s heart and mind between, dark and light, and from blind appetite to conscience duty. Take a man with a calloused, dark, hardened heart, show him love and forgiveness (32-33), give him a way to return that love to others, a way to redeem someone else from the same sins that he had committed (75), and then give him someone to dedicate his life to, someone so good and pure that it fills his heart …show more content…
Valjean, looking defeated, knows that he is headed back to prison, but then the bishop does something miraculous—he tells the police Valjean did not steal the silver. (Hugo 32-33). Not only did the bishop show the old convict forgiveness, but with these words, “remember this, my brother. See in this some higher plan. You must use this precious silver to become an honest man…God has brought you out of darkness. I have bought your soul for God,” he planted the seed of love and mercy in Valjean’s heart (Les Miserable).
“I'll escape now from that world, from the world of Jean Valjean. Jean Valjean is nothing now!” (Les Miserable) Valjean renounces his life of sin and uses the silver to become someone else: he changes his name to Madeline, goes to another city, buys a jewelry factory and makes it successful, then becomes the Mayor. Good deeds, helping others and even saving lives, at the risk of his own, are like water to the seed of love in his heart and it