Les Misérables by Madeline

Les Misérables by Madeline - July 2013 Scholarship Essay

In high school, I was a member of the International Baccalaureate Program, and as a part of the program, I was required to write a four thousand word research paper for my Theory of Knowledge class.  The essay could be about anything, as long as the topic was approved by the instructor.  My passion lies in literature, and so I chose to write about the evolution of the literary movement Romanticism during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.  I began by selecting four novels which represented the Romantic ideas at different times and places: The Sorrows of Young Werther, Jane Eyre, Les Misérables, and The Scarlet Letter.  While all four novels are wonderful, the one which affected me the most as I read it was Les Misérables.
            Les Misérables explores and exposes the poverty and death rampant among the lower classes during the rule of Napoleon.  It follows the life of the convict Jean Valjean from the time he is arrested for stealing a loaf of bread to his death as an old man.  It is the story of a man struggling to do good in a time when the world believes him incapable of change.  Not only was the book intended to excite a revolution, but it was revolutionary in and of itself because it legitimized poverty and showed that a criminal was capable, not only of rising in social ranks, but also of becoming a decent man.  Every dirt-encrusted street urchin, thief and prostitute is not only pitied, but made brave and courageous in their struggle for survival.
            I am not completely certain why Victor Hugo’s story had such a great effect on me.  Perhaps it is because it is a story of adversity.  Perhaps it is because the story reminds us that we are all human—equally capable of falling into times of desperation or rising above all hardship.  Perhaps it is because Les Misérables so clearly reveals all that is wrong with the world, but still manages to give the reader great hope in humanity.  Perhaps it is because it is such an excellent example of the immense power which words contain and the influence they have on all of us.  I am not really certain.  Regardless, the mystery—the intangible magic—which Les Misérables holds for me has made it my favorite book.