Book Review: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Introduction

First published in 1862, Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is one of the greatest achievements in world literature — a monumental story about justice, love, and the struggle for redemption in 19th-century France.

Spanning decades and hundreds of characters, the novel weaves together personal tragedy and social critique, exploring how law, poverty, and morality intersect in a society that punishes the poor for surviving.

At its core stands Jean Valjean, an ex-convict turned saintly figure, who battles both his past and the relentless pursuit of the law embodied by Inspector Javert. Around them orbit unforgettable figures — the doomed Fantine, the pure Cosette, the heroic Marius, and the revolutionary students who dream of freedom.

More than a novel, Les Misérables is a moral epic — a plea for compassion and understanding, and a declaration that love is the highest law.

Plot Summary

Book I: Jean Valjean’s Transformation

The novel opens in 1815. Jean Valjean has just been released from nineteen years of hard labor — five for stealing a loaf of bread, and fourteen more for repeated escape attempts. Marked by society as a criminal, he’s rejected everywhere he goes until he meets Bishop Myriel, whose kindness changes his life.

When Valjean steals the bishop’s silver and is caught, the bishop forgives him, declaring, “I have bought your soul for God.”
Overwhelmed, Valjean vows to become an honest man.

Years later, under the alias Monsieur Madeleine, he becomes a wealthy factory owner and mayor — living as a model of virtue. But his past returns when Inspector Javert, a rigid policeman, begins to suspect his true identity.

Book II: Fantine and Cosette

One of Valjean’s factory workers, Fantine, is fired unjustly. Desperate to support her daughter Cosette, she falls into poverty, prostitution, and illness. When Valjean learns of her suffering, he swears to care for her child.

As Fantine dies, Valjean is arrested after revealing his identity to save another man falsely accused. He escapes prison once again, rescuing Cosette from the cruel innkeepers, the Thénardiers, and raising her as his own daughter.

Book III: Marius and the Revolutionaries

Years later, in Paris, Cosette grows into a young woman and falls in love with Marius Pontmercy, a student revolutionary. Marius’s idealism collides with Valjean’s fear of losing her.

Meanwhile, political unrest grows. A group of students led by Enjolras builds barricades during the June Rebellion of 1832, fighting for liberty against the oppressive regime.

Book IV: The Barricades and Redemption

At the barricades, Marius fights bravely but is gravely wounded. Valjean joins the battle to protect him. In an extraordinary act of grace, Valjean spares Javert’s life when he has the chance to kill him — proving that mercy is stronger than vengeance.

Unable to reconcile mercy with duty, Javert commits suicide, jumping into the Seine.

Valjean carries Marius through the sewers of Paris to safety, saving his life. When Marius and Cosette marry, Valjean quietly withdraws, believing his presence will stain their happiness.

Book V: The Final Chapter

In one of literature’s most moving endings, Valjean dies peacefully, content that Cosette is safe and loved. As he fades, he sees light — symbolic of divine forgiveness — whispering, “It is nothing to die; it is frightful not to live.”

Major Themes

1. Justice vs. Mercy

Hugo’s central conflict pits the law (Javert) against grace (Valjean). Javert’s rigid belief in punishment collapses when confronted by Valjean’s compassion. The novel argues that true justice requires mercy — that love redeems where law condemns.

2. Redemption and Transformation

Valjean’s journey from thief to saint shows that no soul is beyond redemption. His moral transformation embodies Hugo’s faith in human goodness, even amid oppression.

3. Poverty and Inequality

Through characters like Fantine and the poor of Paris, Hugo exposes the cruelty of a society that criminalizes poverty. The novel’s title — “The Miserable Ones” — refers not only to individuals but to all who suffer under injustice.

4. Love and Sacrifice

Love is the novel’s redemptive force — whether it’s Valjean’s paternal devotion, Marius and Cosette’s romance, or the students’ selfless patriotism. Love transforms suffering into meaning.

5. Revolution and Hope

Hugo was both romantic and realist. He portrays revolution as both necessary and tragic — a flame that consumes but also illuminates. The students’ failure is not futility; it’s faith that progress will rise from their sacrifice.

Character Analysis

Jean Valjean

A symbol of moral rebirth. His evolution from convict to savior reflects the novel’s core message: goodness is not innate but achieved through compassion and choice.

Inspector Javert

A man imprisoned by law. His inability to reconcile justice with mercy leads to his self-destruction. Javert’s suicide is tragic — not of evil defeated, but of certainty undone.

Fantine

A victim of society’s cruelty. Her fall is both personal and systemic — she is punished for being poor and judged for surviving.

Cosette

A symbol of purity and renewal. Raised from abuse to grace, she embodies hope and the possibility of healing.

Marius Pontmercy

A romantic idealist torn between duty, love, and politics. Through him, Hugo examines youthful idealism and the cost of change.

The Thénardiers

Corrupt and comic villains representing moral decay. Their greed contrasts sharply with Valjean’s generosity.

Style and Symbolism

Hugo’s prose is grand, lyrical, and moralistic — filled with biblical cadence and poetic reflection. He interrupts the narrative with philosophical digressions (such as long passages on the Paris sewers or the Battle of Waterloo), which deepen the novel’s moral vision.

Key Symbols:

• The Silver Candlesticks: Represent forgiveness and spiritual light — a gift from Bishop Myriel that guides Valjean’s soul.
• The Sewers: Symbol of humanity’s moral depths; Valjean’s passage through them mirrors his purification.
• The Barricades: The struggle for freedom, both external and internal.
• Light and Darkness: Hugo’s recurring imagery for moral struggle — ignorance vs. enlightenment.

Why Les Misérables Still Matters

More than 160 years later, Hugo’s call for empathy and justice still echoes.
Its questions — how to live morally in an unjust world, how to forgive, how to love — remain timeless.

In an era of social inequality and moral polarization, Les Misérables reminds us that compassion is not weakness, but strength.
It asks readers not to judge the poor, but to see them — and in seeing, to act.

Its cinematic adaptations and musical versions have carried its spirit across generations, but the novel remains unmatched in emotional and philosophical depth.

Homework Questions & Answers

Q1: What is the significance of the title “Les Misérables”?
A1: It refers to all who suffer — the poor, the oppressed, and the morally fallen. Hugo uses it to represent humanity’s collective struggle for dignity.

Q2: How do Valjean and Javert represent opposing moral philosophies?
A2: Valjean embodies mercy and moral growth; Javert embodies law and order without compassion. Their conflict reveals the limits of legal justice.

Q3: Why does Javert commit suicide?
A3: Unable to reconcile Valjean’s mercy with his belief in rigid justice, he experiences a moral collapse. His suicide symbolizes the failure of absolute law.

Q4: How does Hugo use symbolism to enhance his message?
A4: Objects like the bishop’s candlesticks and the sewers reflect moral rebirth and purification. Light and darkness mirror inner transformation.

Q5: What message does Hugo convey through Fantine’s story?
A5: Fantine’s suffering exposes systemic injustice — a society that punishes women and the poor for their vulnerability.

Conclusion

Les Misérables is more than a novel — it’s a moral universe.
Through its characters’ intertwined fates, Hugo crafts a story of love stronger than law, mercy greater than punishment, and hope that survives despair.

Jean Valjean’s journey from prisoner to saint is one of the most profound transformations in literature — a testament to the belief that redemption is possible for everyone.

Ultimately, Hugo’s message is clear:
“To love another person is to see the face of God.”