The Redemption of Jean Val Jean in Les Mis
"You no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul I am buying for you. I withdraw it from the dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!" (Hugo, 30) This dramatic statement uttered by the bishop, Magloire in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables , pierced though the many coarse protective outer layers of Jean Valjean, awakening his slumbering soul. The bishop's overall kindness and magnanimity after nineteen years of abuse in the galley sends Valjean into a shock. "A multitude of new sensations" (30) fill his powerful body as his conscience stretches and yawns ; awakening from nearly two decades of hibernation. Emotions courses through him so strong, he broke down weeping violently, the first salty tears his cheeks had felt in years. A single night with the saintly bishop Magloire catalyzes Valjean's soul to revive. This marks the beginning of a long journey to rediscover himself; the true Jean Valjean hiding beneath his coarse appearance. This rebirth occurs in several stages, each stage a accompanied by a pseudonym, until the end when he acts under his original name Jean Valjean, a completely altered man. Jean Valjean grows from a hardened convict in the beg
Whatever the case, one would have a hard time finding a trace of a dishonest criminal inside of this man. So long he goes without any intimate relationships the only emotion known to him is the will to survive. The old man spoke little, and at times looked upon (Cosette) with an unutterable expression of fatherliness. A man who singlehandedly changes an entire town, that of M___sur m___. Under her influence he continues to grow "his whole heart melt(ing) in gratitude, (as) he loved her more and more. Nineteen years of hard labor hardened and dehumanized him so; he does not deem himself worthy of any human treatment. Setting Fantine at liberty is the ultimate example of using his judicial powers for good. inning, to a judicial mayor, a compassionate father, a war hero, to an almost saint like reinvention of himself willing to sacrifice everything. " (190) Growing from an isolated man focused on his own fortune with Cosette's loving teacher, caring for her becomes the initiative behind his every action. This "wretched appearance" (6) is the result of a lifetime of poverty followed by nineteen years of horror and abuse as a galley slave. At this stage Valjean still is not endowed with personal relationships, remaining loving and compassionate at a judicial level. He finally is shaken out of his customary habits when the bishop saves him instead of pressing charges for the silver theft with the words "Forget not , never forget the you have promised me to use the silver to become and honest man. Cosette fills the void in his heart starved for love and affection. The respectable mayor risks being identified by using his brute strength to lift "the enormous mass" (50) off of the man saving Fauchelevent's life, a feat no other bystander would do.
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Acceptance Essays
