Les Misérables

Art Encounter #2 - Literature

Author: Vitor Hugo 1862
Title: Les Misérables
Type: Fictional Novel


Les Misérables book cover

Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat, circa 1880

Victor Hugo was representative of the French Romantic Era. According to my research:

“Victor Hugo (1802-1885), novelist, poet, and dramatist, is one of the most important of French Romantic writers. Among his best-known works are The Hunchback of Notre Dame(1831) and Les Misérables(1862).”

I found a brief survey of his poetry to be highly political. Here is a short poem entitled Song, describing the rise and fall of Napoleon in an opinionated and pointed examination.

Song
from: Chatiments

He shines through history like a sun.
For thrice five years
He bore bright victory through the dun
King-shadowed spheres;
Proud Europe 'neath his law of might
Low-bowed the knee.
Thou, poor ape, hobble after aright,
Petit, petit!

Napoleon in the roar of fight,
Calm and serene,
Guided athwart the fiery flight
His eagle keen.
Upon Arcola bridge he trod,
And came forth free.
Come! here is gold; adore thy god,
Petit, petit!

Viennas were his lights-o-love,
He ravished them;
Blithely he seized brave heights above
By the iron hem;
Castles caught he by the curls,
His brides to be:
For thee here are the poor, pale girls.
Petit, petit!

He passed o'er mountains, deserts, plains,
Having in hand
The palm, the lightening, and the reins
Of every land;
Drunken, he tottered on the brink
Of deity.
Here is sweet blood! quick, run to the drink,
Petit, petit!

Then, when he fell, loosening the world,
The abysmal sea
Made wide here depths for him, down-hurled
By Liberty;
Th' archangel plunged from where he stood,
And earth breathed free.
Thou! drown thyself in thy own mud,
Petit, petit!

While this blog is to cover the novel Les Misérables, I think it’s important to understand Hugo’s political motivations and views.

I read Les Misérables last year and it it is now among my favorite novels. I had struggled with this book several times previously, but just couldn’t mentally sync with it. So, the last time I decided to listen to the audio book while following along. It made a huge difference for me because of the French names and places, which had been a stumbling block. The narrator of the audio book was Frederick Davidson, aka David Case. At first, I found his proper British accent affected and annoying. Over time, it was less of a distraction as I allowed the story to take center stage. By the end, I had spent so much time with the narrator, (a whopping 57 hours and 46 minutes), that he seemed like an old friend.

Here is a brief plot summary of the book found on Audible, (you can also hear a sample of David Case narrating):

Publisher's Summary

Set in the Parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened criminal upon his release, he eventually reforms, becoming a successful industrialist and town mayor. Despite this, he is haunted by an impulsive former crime and is pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert.

Hugo describes early 19th-century France with a sweeping power that gives his novel epic stature. Among the most famous chapters are the account of the battle of Waterloo and Valjean's flight through the Paris sewers.

(P)1996 Blackstone Audiobooks

It really is a combination of a story and history book. If had to choose a style from A Beginner’s Guide to the Humanities, I would say it is one part Romance, given the love story between Cosette and Marius, the hero figure of Jean Valjean, as well as the fatherly love of Valjean toward Cosette. It is another part Historical as Victor Hugo does an excellent job of describing the details of French life during revolution. I have to admit I had a difficult time digesting the more formal historical dissertations, but was completely absorbed during the main storyline. Lastly, it is part Detective story as the sub story between Valjean and Inspector Javert. Javert pursues Valjean throughout the story, determined to send him back to prison. In the end Javert finally understands Valjean and is so conflicted between doing the “right” thing and doing his sworn duty, which is the essence of who he is, he takes his own life.

The beginning of the book was somewhat cumbersome for me, as I adjusted to Hugo’s style of writing but I was completely engaged by the time the character of Jean Valjean enters. I was leery of the long introduction to M. Myriel, the old bishop, thinking this may be the main character. Afterwards, I realized how essential the character of the bishop is. He was the catalyst which allowed the reincarnation of Jean Valjean. The transformation is remarkable, and honestly, almost unbelievable. The introduction of Jean Valjean is of a ex-con who has just been released from prison. His crime was stealing a loaf of bread. Obviously, Hugo is making a statement of the unjust nature of crime and punishment as we are led through the nightmare of Valjean, an otherwise honest man, who finds himself branded a criminal for life and sent into a kind of exodus from the civilized world. He is turned away from place to place as people realize he is a ex-convict until he is sent to see the bishop who literally open his home to Valjean. I say the transformation is almost unbelievable because Valjean is almost seen as an idiot when he is introduced, but later becomes a highly respected and charismatic mayor.

All of the characters, both major and minor are very memorable. For me, I had an odd personal connection with Cosette. For some reason I kept envisioning my youngest daughter as Cosette during her brutal time with the Thénardiers, inn keepers who had taken the illegitimate Cosette in for an ongoing fee from her mother. The Thénardiers had two daughters and Cosette was made to serve the family and was treated cruelly. Another sub story tells the story of Cosette’s mother, Fantine, who’s life dwindles into the dark and unjust corners of humanity. Every decision, ultimately leading to prostitution, is justified through her love and concern for Cosette. The Thénardiers play upon this fear and bilk Fantine of even her dignity when she is forced to sell her hair and teeth. Jean Valjean is partly responsible for the destitution of Fantine, after allowing her to be fired from his factory and this ultimately ties him irrevocably to Cossete.

Cosette is eventually rescued from the Thénardiers by Jean Valjean. The Thénardiers actually sell Cosette to Valjean, without concern for her welfare. They immediately realize they could have requested a larger sum of money and try to undo the agreement, but Valjean escapes with Cosette to Paris.

Here is a scene from the musical, which was adapted from Hugo’s novel, that shows Cosette’s life just before being rescued by Jean Valjean.



I have not seen the musical and would really like to. It is touring right now and I hope to see a scheduled performance in Arizona. It will be at the ASU Gammage Auditorium June 7th through the 12th.

My daughter was kind enough to help me out with a comparison of the famous illustration of Cossette.

Portrait of "Cosette" by Emile Bayard, from the original edition of Les Misérables (1862).

Tatum as “Corsette” by Me (2011).

Originally, I was confused about Les Misérables after watching the 1995 film starring Jean-Paul Belmondo which is summarized in Netflix:

“During World War II, illiterate Henri Fortin (Jean-Paul Belmondo) helps Jewish lawyer André Ziman (Michel Boujenah) and his family flee to Switzerland. Along the way, Ziman reads from Les Misérables, and Fortin begins to see himself as the book's hero, Jean Valjean. Victor Hugo's classic novel served as the inspiration for director Claude Lelouch's epic film, winner of the 1996 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.”

Because I was not familiar with the book or the historical time frame, I actually thought this was the story. I didn’t realize Hugo’s work was the story within a story. I really need to go back and watch the movie again now that I have perspective. I enjoyed it before and I’m sure it would have fresh meaning to me.

After reading the book I watched the most recent theatrical release starring Liam Neeson. I really felt this held fairly true to the story. It had some departures which I understand were likely necessary due to time and audience.



If you’re interested in reading the book, it is available free as a downloadable ebook through the Gutenberg Project. I use the Kindle app on my PC and Android phone. I also use the Audible app on my phone.

Concept Blog #2

Looking at how the Enlightenment affects me today, I would say that its influence on American politics through the Declaration of Independence is among the most important.


It’s main contributor was Thomas Jefferson who is also noted as a philosopher of Enlightenment.


Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale: (1805)
Source: New York Historical Society

Wickipedia differentiates this period of time as being part of the American Enlightenment.

According to a C-Span discussion of Darren Staloff’s book Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The Politics of Enlightenment and the American Founding:

“In his book Professor Staloff writes that Enlightenment politics stemmed from a growing disillusionment with the metaphysical fascination and an increasing interest in liberty, urbanism, and idealism. At the core of the American movement of Enlightenment politics were Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, each of whom believed in the fundamentals of Enlightenment but approached the application of Enlightenment from different sides.” There is a lengthy, but interesting video of this discussion.

The varying ideology of the founding fathers appear to be in keeping with the overall concept of the Enlightenment where “The Enlightenment was less a set of ideas than it was a set of values.”

This single document has become an entrenched piece of the American identity and continues to shape our lives. Among the most famous and influential:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”


“This sentence has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language"[2] and "the most potent and consequential words in American history".[3]”

Our textbook, The Human Spirit, features writings by John Locke whom Thomas Jefferson considered to be one of "the three greatest men that have ever lived".[73]

John Locke, by Herman Verelst

John Locke’s influence on this great American ideal where, in his “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” he argues that we are all born a “white paper,” (blank slate), and that reason and knowledge are not innate but are learned through experience. This seems to be the basic tenet underscoring “all men are created equal.”

It seems that this concept, often contentiously fought, continues to move forward and is the foundation of equal right events/movements including the Emancipation Proclamation, the Reconstruction Amendments, Nineteenth Amendment,

and it guides much of the Civil Rights Movement. Although many of these ideas take time to be fought and won, they still underscore the Enlightenment precepts of Legitimacy and Authority, where reason (eventually) acts as a balance.

Civil Rights Timeline
Milestones in the modern civil rights movement

by Borgna Brunner and Elissa Haney

1948	July 26 Truman signs Executive Order 9981, which states, "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin."
1954	May 17The Supreme Court rules on the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., unanimously agreeing that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The ruling paves the way for large-scale desegregation. The decision overturns the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that sanctioned "separate but equal" segregation of the races, ruling that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." It is a victory for NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, who will later return to the Supreme Court as the nation's first black justice. Top
1955	Aug. Fourteen-year-old Chicagoan Emmett Till is visiting family in Mississippi when he is kidnapped, brutally beaten, shot, and dumped in the Tallahatchie River for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Two white men, J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant, are arrested for the murder and acquitted by an all-white jury. They later boast about committing the murder in a Look magazine interview. The case becomes a cause célèbre of the civil rights movement. Dec. 1(Montgomery, Ala.) NAACP member Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of a bus to a white passenger, defying a southern custom of the time. In response to her arrest the Montgomery black community launches a bus boycott, which will last for more than a year, until the buses are desegregated Dec. 21, 1956. As newly elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., is instrumental in leading the boycott. Top
1957	Jan.–Feb. Martin Luther King, Charles K. Steele, and Fred L. Shuttlesworth establish the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which King is made the first president. The SCLC becomes a major force in organizing the civil rights movement and bases its principles on nonviolence and civil disobedience. According to King, it is essential that the civil rights movement not sink to the level of the racists and hatemongers who oppose them: "We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline," he urges. Sept. (Little Rock, Ark.) Formerly all-white Central High School learns that integration is easier said than done. Nine black students are blocked from entering the school on the orders of Governor Orval Faubus. President Eisenhower sends federal troops and the National Guard to intervene on behalf of the students, who become known as the "Little Rock Nine."
1960	Feb. 1 (Greensboro, N.C.) Four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggers many similar nonviolent protests throughout the South. Six months later the original four protesters are served lunch at the same Woolworth's counter. Student sit-ins would be effective throughout the Deep South in integrating parks, swimming pools, theaters, libraries, and other public facilities. April (Raleigh, N.C.) The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is founded at Shaw University, providing young blacks with a place in the civil rights movement. The SNCC later grows into a more radical organization, especially under the leadership of Stokely Carmichael (1966–1967). Top
1961	May 4 Over the spring and summer, student volunteers begin taking bus trips through the South to test out new laws that prohibit segregation in interstate travel facilities, which includes bus and railway stations. Several of the groups of "freedom riders," as they are called, are attacked by angry mobs along the way. The program, sponsored by The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), involves more than 1,000 volunteers, black and white.
1962	Oct. 1 James Meredith becomes the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Violence and riots surrounding the incident cause President Kennedy to send 5,000 federal troops.
1963	April 16 Martin Luther King is arrested and jailed during anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Ala.; he writes his seminal "Letter from Birmingham Jail," arguing that individuals have the moral duty to disobey unjust laws. May During civil rights protests in Birmingham, Ala., Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor uses fire hoses and police dogs on black demonstrators. These images of brutality, which are televised and published widely, are instrumental in gaining sympathy for the civil rights movement around the world. June 12 (Jackson, Miss.) Mississippi's NAACP field secretary, 37-year-old Medgar Evers, is murdered outside his home. Byron De La Beckwith is tried twice in 1964, both trials resulting in hung juries. Thirty years later he is convicted for murdering Evers. Aug. 28(Washington, D.C.) About 200,000 people join the March on Washington. Congregating at the Lincoln Memorial, participants listen as Martin Luther King delivers his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Sept. 15 (Birmingham, Ala.) Four young girls (Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins) attending Sunday school are killed when a bomb explodes at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, a popular location for civil rights meetings. Riots erupt in Birmingham, leading to the deaths of two more black youths. Top
1964	Jan. 23 The 24th Amendment abolishes the poll tax, which originally had been instituted in 11 southern states after Reconstruction to make it difficult for poor blacks to vote. Summer The Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), a network of civil rights groups that includes CORE and SNCC, launches a massive effort to register black voters during what becomes known as the Freedom Summer. It also sends delegates to the Democratic National Convention to protest—and attempt to unseat—the official all-white Mississippi contingent. July 2 President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The law also provides the federal government with the powers to enforce desegregation. Aug. 4 (Neshoba Country, Miss.) The bodies of three civil-rights workers—two white, one black—are found in an earthen dam, six weeks into a federal investigation backed by President Johnson. James E. Chaney, 21; Andrew Goodman, 21; and Michael Schwerner, 24, had been working to register black voters in Mississippi, and, on June 21, had gone to investigate the burning of a black church. They were arrested by the police on speeding charges, incarcerated for several hours, and then released after dark into the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, who murdered them.
1965	Feb. 21 (Harlem, N.Y.) Malcolm X, black nationalist and founder of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, is shot to death. It is believed the assailants are members of the Black Muslim faith, which Malcolm had recently abandoned in favor of orthodox Islam. March 7 (Selma, Ala.) Blacks begin a march to Montgomery in support of voting rights but are stopped at the Pettus Bridge by a police blockade. Fifty marchers are hospitalized after police use tear gas, whips, and clubs against them. The incident is dubbed "Bloody Sunday" by the media. The march is considered the catalyst for pushing through the voting rights act five months later. Aug. 10 Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it easier for Southern blacks to register to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting are made illegal. Aug. 11–17, 1965 (Watts, Calif.) Race riots erupt in a black section of Los Angeles. Sept. 24, 1965 Asserting that civil rights laws alone are not enough to remedy discrimination, President Johnson issues Executive Order 11246, which enforces affirmative action for the first time. It requires government contractors to "take affirmative action" toward prospective minority employees in all aspects of hiring and employment. Top
1966	* Oct. (Oakland, Calif.) The militant Black Panthers are founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.
1967	April 19 Stokely Carmichael, a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), coins the phrase "black power" in a speech in Seattle. He defines it as an assertion of black pride and "the coming together of black people to fight for their liberation by any means necessary." The term's radicalism alarms many who believe the civil rights movement's effectiveness and moral authority crucially depend on nonviolent civil disobedience. June 12 In Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court rules that prohibiting interracial marriage is unconstitutional. Sixteen states that still banned interracial marriage at the time are forced to revise their laws. July Major race riots take place in Newark (July 12–16) and Detroit (July 23–30).
1968	April 4 (Memphis, Tenn.) Martin Luther King, at age 39, is shot as he stands on the balcony outside his hotel room. Escaped convict and committed racist James Earl Ray is convicted of the crime. April 11 President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
1971	April 20 The Supreme Court, in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, upholds busing as a legitimate means for achieving integration of public schools. Although largely unwelcome (and sometimes violently opposed) in local school districts, court-ordered busing plans in cities such as Charlotte, Boston, and Denver continue until the late 1990s. Top
1988	March 22 Overriding President Reagan's veto, Congress passes the Civil Rights Restoration Act, which expands the reach of non-discrimination laws within private institutions receiving federal funds.
1991	Nov. 22 After two years of debates, vetoes, and threatened vetoes, President Bush reverses himself and signs the Civil Rights Act of 1991, strengthening existing civil rights laws and providing for damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination. Top
1992	April 29 (Los Angeles, Calif.) The first race riots in decades erupt in south-central Los Angeles after a jury acquits four white police officers for the videotaped beating of African American Rodney King.
2003	June 23 In the most important affirmative action decision since the 1978 Bakke case, the Supreme Court (5–4) upholds the University of Michigan Law School's policy, ruling that race can be one of many factors considered by colleges when selecting their students because it furthers "a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body." (See also: Affirmative Action Timeline.) Top
2005	June 21 The ringleader of the Mississippi civil rights murders (see Aug. 4, 1964), Edgar Ray Killen, is convicted of manslaughter on the 41st anniversary of the crimes. October 24 Rosa Parks dies at age 92.
2006	January 30 Coretta Scott King dies of a stroke at age 78.
2007	February Emmett Till's 1955 murder case, reopened by the Department of Justice in 2004, is officially closed. The two confessed murderers, J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant, were dead of cancer by 1994, and prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to pursue further convictions. May 10 James Bonard Fowler, a former state trooper, is indicted for the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson 40 years after Jackson's death. The 1965 killing lead to a series of historic civil rights protests in Selma, Ala.
2008	January Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduces the Civil Rights Act of 2008. Some of the proposed provisions include ensuring that federal funds are not used to subsidize discrimination, holding employers accountable for age discrimination, and improving accountability for other violations of civil rights and workers' rights. Top
2009	January In the Supreme Court case Ricci v. DeStefano, a lawsuit brought against the city of New Haven, 18 plaintiffs—17 white people and one Hispanic—argued that results of the 2003 lieutenant and captain exams were thrown out when it was determined that few minority firefighters qualified for advancement. The city claimed they threw out the results because they feared liability under a disparate-impact statute for issuing tests that discriminated against minority firefighters. The plaintiffs claimed that they were victims of reverse discrimination under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Supreme Court ruled (5–4) in favor of the firefighters, saying New Haven's "action in discarding the tests was a violation of Title VII."

I hope this simply stated concept that “all men are created equal,” a product of the Age of Enlightenment, will continue to guarantee our right to pursue happiness.