Les Misérables

One of my favourite novels of all time is “Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo. Few writers (Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky would undoubtedly count among the few) have so brilliantly and movingly portrayed the misery and the grandeur of the human condition. After his release from prison Jean Valjean, though clearly more sinned against than sinning, is not someone that we would relish the idea of meeting on our way home on a dark night. He is the embodiment of brutalised strength, seething with hatred and resentment. The author tells us that a man like this, unless “providence” intervenes, is among the most dangerous and destructive forces that one can imagine.

With a main character who is described in these terms right at the start of a long novel the author’s choice of title seems more than fitting! What kind of story can we expect?

When the saintly old bishop at the hostel where Jean Valjean was given food and lodging leaves his door ajar, having let his guest know where the silver was kept, we know what’s going to happen. The only thing that is in doubt is whether the bishop himself will escape with his life intact.

However, it isn’t long before Valjean is caught, his bag bulging with the bishop’s silver cutlery. The rest of the story is already writing itself in our minds: Valjean will be thrown back into prison, where he will become more and more depraved, and Javert’s opinion of him will have been amply vindicated.

We are no less taken aback than Valjean himself is when the bishop, instead of reclaiming his silver, asks him why he hadn’t taken the candlesticks as well! The bishop’s gift had after all been ALL the silverware, not only the cutlery. After the policemen leave, the bishop “reminds” Valjean of his promise use this gift to become a good man.

This encounter with goodness is the turning point of the novel, occurring though it does right at the beginning of it. The rest of the story is essentially Valjean’s earnest commitment of himself, body and soul, to the fulfilment of this promise, running parallel with Javert’s equally earnest endeavour to nail the “fugitive” and throw him back in prison. Javert stands for the cold, relentless application of justice, which can punish but cannot restore. The bishop, by contrast, stands for not only forgiveness but grace. Not content to refrain from pressing charges and let the matter drop, he gives Valjean the silver that he had intended to steal, and more of it besides. In doing so, he gives him something to be grateful for, and someone to be grateful to. It is this gratitude which transforms Vealjean from an embittered, hate-driven bandit into a humble, love-driven human being. In this transformation Hugo makes us witnesses to a revolution that proves much deeper than the one that has just engulfed the country, leaving a wasteland in its wake.

These events remind me of the words of America’s best-loved hymn, written, interestingly, by a former English slave-trader at about the same time as the events desribed in the first pages of "Les Misérables". (If only we could see more of the theme of this hymn in America's dealings with Iraq)

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
was blind but now I see.'

Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed!

The Lord has promised good to me,
his word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
'tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The world shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun refuse to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Shall be forever mine.


Mind you, Jean Valjean could have taken the silver and let it take possession of him. The bishop knew that he risked not only losing his silver, but losing Jean Valjean as well. In that case this grace would not have been effective. But he knew that the risk was worth taking. It was a similar risk that God took when He became a baby about 2 millenia ago.