Report On Les Miserables By Victor Hugo

Essay, Research Paper

I found the book Les Miserables, written by Victor Hugo, to be an all around enjoyable story. The way Hugo arranged and worded his sentences were very clever. Because of these sentences, during the slow or boring parts, I remained interested. However, many parts of the book I found to be confusing. Hugo did not seem to give much information or background about why the characters did what they did.

One of the most puzzling parts in Les Miserables was Javert’s stubborness to capture Jean Valjean and put him back in prison. I did not understand why they insisted on imprisoning Jean Valjean even though he was not a threat and had done nothing wrong after he had already served his time for stealing. As a matter of fact, I believe he was turned into a good man. He deserved to be thanked. He did many good deeds and helped many people. I did not understand why he deserved to go back to jail.

Another confusing part of the story was Javert’s death. I did not understand why he decided to kill himself. I thought that the reason he allowed Jean Valjean to be free was because Valjean did not kill him. I thought that Javert should be proud to be such a good person, returning a favor. I simply did not understand why he was upset enough to take his own life.

The only other part of the book I did not find amusing was when Hugo began describing Marius and his life. THe sudden change made the story seem slow and boring, as if it were starting all over again. It was also confusing because I did not understand why this information was being put into the story until Hugo brought Jean Valjean and Cosette back into the story.

Despite these slow and confusing parts, the book was extremely amusing and entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed the little bits of wisdom pointed out. For example “SHe would have softened a heart of granite; but you cannot soften a heart of wood.” I found this remark to be true. SOme people cannot be changed. Another quote I liked was “THere are instincts for all the crises of life.” No particular reason, it just caught my attention during the story. It added emotion to what I was reading.

Over all, this was a great book. THe story was original and made many twists and turns in the plot. THis made it unpredictable and exciting, especially the end. There is much irony in the story as well. The fact that the whole plot was based on the stubborness of Javert trying to get Valjean into prison, the he lets him go at the end, it was very intersting and unanticipated. That is what I admire best about Les Miserables, the irony and excitment.