WHAT A CHARACTER

I’ll be honest and say that I don’t enjoy reading because I often find myself at a stalemate when it comes to book choice. I don’t like contemporary books because I feel like many of them lack meaning. So my only other option is the classics and older books, but trying to read those gives me headaches. However, every once in a while comes a book I actually enjoy. One of the few has been Les Miserables. Curiously, this is a book I had to read for one of the literary circles we did for out Honors English 2 and I felt forced to read it and dreaded it because it was so long and I felt like it would be boring and dry. It was the complete opposite actually and after reading it once for that class, I have independently read it in two separate occasions. The character of Jean Valjean made a big impact on me. His story of how one small offense that you had to commit can alter your life completely truly touched me and made me realize just how vicious life can be to those who don’t deserve it. It seems a bit ironic really, that life is often most unfair to those who already have it bad as it is. Throughout the book, Victor Hugo provides us with quite a bit of direct characterization. That’s how we get to know Jean for the most part. He does also use foil when the events are told through the eyes of the other characters and they use their point of view to describe him and the events he is involved with. There is also extensive use of indirect characterization, which can be observed through Victor Hugo's extensive descriptions of feats and actions performed by Jean where he wont openly state "he is brave" but will imply it based on what he is describing. Apart from having and impactful story, Jean also embodies certain characteristics I find admirable. Jean is honest, hard-working, protective, morally strong and he isn't afraid to admit his mistakes and act human. What I mean by "act human" is that he isn't afraid of letting the negative emotions and feelings out. He openly makes it hard for Marius to court his daughter because he is afraid of losing her and being alone. Many times, we humans try to suppress our feelings because they make us look weak and bad . When we don't project what we feel it bottles up inside until it causes us to collapse internally.


 

 

Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean in the 2012 movie Les Miserables

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