Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables was a Broadway sensation as a musical but before it was converted into musical, it was one of the premier classics in all of literature and is often cited as one of the greatest novels in any language.
Valjean – A Conversion
The novel’s central plot revolves around the ex-convict Jean Valjean and is the story of his redemption. His is the story of a man who turns from a life of crime towards and darkness towards a life that seeks God and light. More than 1200 pages into the book Hugo summarizes “The book the reader has now before his eyes—from one end to the other, in its whole and in its details…is the march from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from the false to the true, from night to day.”
Hugo’s summary of the book is the description of a conversion. The traditional ‘religious’ idea of conversion can be defined as “an experience associated with the definite and decisive adoption of a religion (Merriam Webster),” which certainly fits Valjean’s experiences after his confrontation with the priest. However, a look at the Latin root adds even more depth to our understanding. Conversio or conversion literally means “a turning around.” A complete turn around is an accurate description of what occurs in Valjean’s life after he meets the priest.
Valjean Struggles
In describing a life that is completely converted, Victor Hugo succeeds more brilliantly than possibly any other writer ever has. His hero, Jean Valjean encapsulates the human journey from darkness to light in the truest way possible. Valjean suffers failure and setbacks. He is haunted by his crimes and hounded by the law.
Valjean, like all men, must struggle against evil and make the choice for good. The decision must be made multiple times before Valjean’s last decisive struggle, the narrator comments “Jacob wrestled with the angel for one night only. Alas! How many times have we seen Jean Valjean grappling in the darkness with his conscience, desperately wrestling against it.” In the end we hear Valjean say, “I see light. Come nearer. I am dying happy.”
Prohibitively Long
The Signet Classic edition of Les Miserables, which is probably the most familiar copy of the book currently available is a mind-numbing 1463 pages long. While there are many abridged versions of the story available, most who read the unabridged version say that it is worth the effort to read the complete novel and that the richness and depth of the book justifies the length.
However, for those who might wonder whether the novel is worth starting and who might wonder what Hugo was thinking when he rambled on for such an incredible length. Hugo’s argument at the end of the chapter, The Year 1817, is worth considering. The chapter is essentially a five and a half page list of the flotsam and jetsam of a single year—the stuff that history forgets. Most of the list is contained in a massive run-on paragraph.
However, at the end of the list Hugo justifies himself by saying “History ignores almost all these minutiae: it cannot do otherwise; it is under the dominion of infinity. Nonetheless, these details, which are incorrectly termed little-there being neither little facts in humanity nor little leaves in vegetation-are useful. It is the features of the years that make up the face of the century.”
His justification for his list justifies his book too. Les Miserables is about the lives of those who are marginalized and yet he dedicates nearly 1500 pages to their plight because there are no little people.
A Goldmine
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo is a goldmine for people who want to grow in compassion and love for their fellow man. The journey of Jean Valjean from darkness to light is rich with lessons that anyone can appreciate. Les Miserables has tremendous literary value and even greater human value and is one book that everyone should attempt to read.
Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. Signet Classic. 1987. ISBN 0-451-52526-4
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