What are the themes in Les Miserables by Victor Hugo?
mwestwood Teacher Community / Jr. College eNotes Editor A contemporary of Victor Hugo’s, Charles Dickens felt that society was a prison. Certainly this perception is applicable to Les Miserables. For, Hugo’s grand novel is a plea for social justice. The main character, Jean Valjean suffers in the prison of society as he first starves and acts out of desperation, actions for which he is unjustly punished. After his release, Valjean steals a coin out of desperation, and is, then, obsessively pursued by police inspector who becomes obsessed with his capture; Valjean is never able escape his past despite his business success and all his charitable deeds. Hugo’s description of the Paris rebellion in 1832 is a metaphor for this class struggle for human rights which Valjean undergoes. So, themes in Les Miserables are Social Justice/Human Rights, Class Conflicts that result from this struggle, the existential theme of the Meaning of Life, and Justice/Injustice. • Human rights – In the beginnin
