Title: les Miserable
Genre: historical fiction , Fiction , novel
Characters:
Jean Valjean - Cosette’s adopted father. Valjean is an ex-convict who leaves behind a life of hatred and deceit and makes his fortune with his innovative industrial techniques.
Cosette - Fantine’s daughter, who lives as Valjean’s adopted daughter after her mother dies. Cosette spends her childhood as a servant for the Thénardiers in Montfermeil, but even this awful experience does not make her hardened or cynical.
Javert - A police inspector who strictly believes in law and order and will stop at nothing to enforce France’s harsh penal codes. Javert is incapable of compassion or pity, and performs his work with such passion that he takes on a nearly animal quality when he is on the chase
Fantine - A working-class girl who leaves her hometown of Montreuil-sur-mer to seek her fortune in Paris.
Marius Pontmercy - The son of Georges Pontmercy, a colonel in Napoléon’s army.M. Myriel - The bishop of Digne. M. Myriel is a much-admired clergyman whose great kindness and charity have made him popular throughout his parish.
M. Thénardier - A cruel, wretched, money-obsessed man who first appears as Cosette’s keeper and tormentor. Thénardier extorts money from whomever he can, and he frequently serves as an informant to whoever will bid the highest Mme. Thénardier - M. Thénardier’s wife. Mme. Thénardier is just as evil as her husband and takes special pleasure in abusing Cosette.
Eponine - The Thénardiers’ eldest daughter. Eponine is a wretched creature who helps her parents steal, but she is eventually redeemed by her love for Marius.
M. Gillenormand - Marius’s ninety-year-old maternal grandfather. Gillenormand prevents Marius from seeing his father, Georges Pontmercy, because he fears that Pontmercy will corrupt Marius
Gavroche - The Thénardiers’ oldest son. Gavroche is kicked out of the house at an early age and becomes a Parisian street urchin.
Colonel Georges Pontmercy - An officer in Napoléon’s army and Marius’s father Enjolras - The leader of the Friends of the ABC. Enjolras is a radical student revolutionary.
Fauchelevent - A critic of Valjean’s
Petit-Gervais - A small boy whom Valjean robs shortly after leaving Digne. M. Mabeuf - A churchwarden in Paris who tells Marius the truth about his father Patron-Minette - Actually four people, Patron-Minette is a Parisian crime ring so close-knit that its four members—Montparnasse, Babet, Claquesous, and Gueulemer—are described as four heads of the same violent beast.
Felix Tholomyès - Fantine’s lover in Paris. Tholomyès is a wealthy student who thinks much less of his relationship with Fantine than she does. He gets Fantine pregnant and then abandons her as a joke.
Azelma - The Thénardiers’ younger daughter. Azelma grows up pampered and spoiled but ends up enduring the same poverty as the rest of her family.
Settings: Hugo's masterpiece covers a large portion of Revolutionary French history. The battle of Waterloo, the revolving-door of governments, and the numerous street barricade rebellions of the city of Paris during the 1830s all serve as a background for the story.The French Revolution brought about great changes in the society and government of France. The revolution, which lasted from 1789 to 1799, also had far-reaching effects on the rest of Europe. "It introduced democratic ideals to France but did not make the nation a democracy. However, it ended supreme rule by French kings and strengthened the middle class." (Durant, 12) After the revolution began, no European kings, nobles, or other members of the aristocracy could take their powers for granted or ignore the ideals of liberty and equality.The streets of Paris saw numerous riots when the people felt that King Louis Philippe was unable to end political corruption. Students and radical republicans joined forces with discontented workers to built barricades in the poorest quarters of the city. The men, most of them unemployed, built their barricades with iron grillwork, paving stones, overturned carriages and furniture. They also cut down the trees lining the streets. Between 1827 and 1849 the streets of Paris saw barricades eight times, always in the city's eastern half. Three times these barricades were a prelude to revolution.
Plot:The convict Jean Valjean is released from a French prison after serving nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread and for subsequent attempts to escape from prison. When Valjean arrives at the town of Digne, no one is willing to give him shelter because he is an ex-convict. Desperate, Valjean knocks on the door of M. Myriel, the kindly bishop of Digne. Myriel treats Valjean with kindness, and Valjean repays the bishop by stealing his silverware. When the police arrest Valjean, Myriel covers for him, claiming that the silverware was a gift. The authorities release Valjean and Myriel makes him promise to become an honest man. Eager to fulfill his promise, Valjean masks his identity and enters the town of Montreuil-sur-mer. Under the assumed name of Madeleine, Valjean invents an ingenious manufacturing process that brings the town prosperity. He eventually becomes the town’s mayor.
Theme: Hugo asserts that love and compassion are the most important gifts one person can give another and that always displaying these qualities should be the most important goal in life. Valjean’s transformation from a hate-filled and hardened criminal into a well-respected philanthropist epitomizes Hugo’s emphasis on love, for it is only by learning to love others that Valjean is able to improve himself. While Valjean’s efforts on behalf of others inevitably cause him problems, they also give him a sense of happiness and fulfillment that he has never before felt. Valjean’s love for others—in particular, for Cosette—is what keeps him going in desperate times.
Symbolism: candlesticks are the most prominent symbol of compassion in Les Misérables, and they shed a light that always brings love and hope. The orphaned figures of Cosette and Gavroche are frequently referred to as creatures of flight, for good.
- What does the title mean in relation to the film as a whole? title means the struggle and misery of poor people of Paris between the highest social people.
- Among the characters,to whom can you relate to? Javert, He is desirable when it comes to his duty and profession.
- Which part of presentation studs you the most? Why? The introduction of the movie,because it is very malice thing and not enjoyable to watch..full of misery..
- What is the movies message? The message of the movie me is about freedom..love and acceptance
- Did i like this in general? Why? Yes because it tells about the story of a strong courage of man...
- Did i agree the main theme/purpose? why or why not? Yes ...It tells about how to love, to make decisions as a choice
- What specifically did I like/dislike? I like when valjean break the parole and he agrees to care cosettes the daughter of fantines
- Are there any aspects of theme which are left ambiguous at the end? why? javerts deaths ..because he's death is not understandable
- How does this film relate to the things that are happening in your life? I relate my life in this film...I do what I think is right.
Dear addiction,
Reflection,
I’m writing this to you
Telling you were thru Before you do things make sure that.. in every move
I can’t take you anymore you make..you are responsible no matter what the
consequences .
Don’t know what I liked you for
All you did was wear me out I relate this poem in my life experience, Its because I
Now I know what your all about done this already in my life.The things that motivates me
to do this kind of thing is my curiosity..and failure in life
You came to me with promise and joy .Someday I realize that it cause me a huge damages,
Now look at all the things you destroy including to my family and friends.I overcome this kind
Families, lives, bank accounts you see of problem ..by the help of God that who are always
You ruined it all with one little tease there for me..
Look at the way you make me feel
Then you take it all and want me to steal Now,I start my new chapter in life.By giving time to
myself ,and to my family...by identifying my goal
Why can’t you just go and hide towards the future.
Somewhere far away where I’ll never find
Everyone at home don’t understand
How you rip me apart , then lend me a hand
I keep coming back thinking inside
Maybe this time I’ll make you my bride
Then I sit and wonder why
Why do you really want me to die
Thousands and thousands come to you
Hoping and praying you’ll help them thru
Then they fall for your lending hand
Only to realize your nothing but a scam
You promised me heaven and sent me to hell
You ruined my life and then wished me well
Watch me now as I go on my way
I’m washing myself of all of your pain
So you and your power can just leave me be
I’m taking my life and setting it free
www.FamilyFriendPoems.com
