preview

Les Miserables Redemption Essay

Decent Essays

In the novel Les Miserables, Victor Hugo utilizes various redemptive acts to prove that redemption impacts both the redeemed and the redeemer.
The theme of redemption appears countless times in the novel to emphasize the freedom, relief, and healthy change that occurs when a person is redeemed. In the novel, Jean
Valjean redeems Javert by letting him go free from the barricade instead of killing him. Javert, the determined policeman who is out to get Jean Valjean becomes overwhelmed by the generosity that the ex-convict displayed to him. Javert's overwhelmed state of being is recognized when the conflicted man begins to struggle with the fact that he has started to admire a convict. Jean Valjean, the man who Javert has forced to live in hiding, …show more content…

It was playground time, and the happy surroundings suddenly vanished as Beth menacingly approached me. The grimace on the girl's face was the perfect representation of her feelings for me, utter hatred and contempt. As the tall, blonde girl moved closer at a stealthy pace I prepared myself for what was to come; the same phrase that Beth sneered at me every day on the playground at day care, "I don't like you, Graceanne!" Although Beth's hurtful remark had become extremely routine, my heart felt a sharp pain every time she approached me with that hateful grimace on her face. Usually I would ignore the hateful remark and walk away as if I had heard nothing, but today was a different day. A new day with redemption at the utmost center.
As Beth approached me and uttered the daily phrase "I don't like you, Graceanne" I immediately responded with words that made the grimace on Beth's face vanish forever, "I like you, Beth."
The redemption that Jean Valjean lavished upon Javert is extremely similar to the redemption that I gave to Beth. The hurtful remarks that Beth hit me with every day impacted

Get Access