Social Classes in Revolutional France in Les Miserable by...

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo demonstrates the prevalence of social classes in revolutionary France. The protagonist Jean Valjean experiences numerous social injustices throughout his life but learns many valuable lessons in the process, which help Valjean become a better person and learn that being honest is very important. He learns that he cannot run away from the past but rather he should learn from it so he can lead a better life. The book starts off with Valjean in a jail cell, and then he escapes. This is where he learns about the importance of honesty. Later on in the book Valjean becomes a father to Cosette he learns the importance of love and family. He realizes how much Cosette means to him and that he would do anything to†¦show more content†¦Ever since he started leading an honest life he started experiencing things like wealth, love, and the importance of family. He experiences wealth when he lives in Montreuil and opens his own factory. He is able to experience love and the importance of family when he decided to start taking care of Cosette. Jean Valjean changes his name when he runs away from the bishop and then moves to Montreuil where he opens his own factory. Valjean wants to change his name in an attempt to mask his past and move on with his life. He wants to pursue an honest life, and by changing his name no one will doubt him. Valjean wants to run away from the past so he takes up p seudonyms, but the antagonist Javert always finds about about his new name. This is when he realizes that changing his name cannot change him, and he needs to be okay with his criminal past. Valjean’s criminal past is what makes him such a humble and courageous human being by the end of the book. Valjean stole a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s hungry family. As a consequence of stealing the bread he went to jail for nineteen years. His sentence just kept getting longer and longer because of the many attempts to escape. By the time he got out his family did not want anything to do with him and he was all alone. Ever since Valjean got out of jail he longed for people who he could call family because once he was thrown in jail his