The movie image.
During my senior year in high school, I was supposed to read the book Les Misérables by Victor Hugo for my English class. I did read some of the book, but the majority I read from Sparknotes. Even from the beginning Hugo starts the novel with a very touching storyline as he critiques the unlawful French justice system of his lifetime. The more we read and discussed in class the more involved I became with the book, but I never offically read the entire book. After we took the test, we watched the movie and it is one of the most inspiring movies I have ever seen.
At the beginning of the novel/movie, Jean Valjean was trying to help his sister raise her children. They were extremely poor. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and Jean Valjean decided to steal a loaf of bread for his starving family even though he could have asked. He ends up getting charged with theft and sentenced to several years on the chain gang. After trying to escape numerous times, his sentence multiplies into a total of nineteen years. Upon his release, Jean Valjean has a sinister outlook on life. He is a criminal on probation and is required to make sure every town he enters knows this.
One of my favorite parts of the entire novel/movie is when Jean Valjean enters a town, Digne, where he is denied food or shelter. He decides to sleep on a bench in the town when an old lady asks him what he is doing trying to sleep outside when the weather gets severely cold at night. He replies that no person would allow him, a criminal, food or shelter. She asks Valjean if he tried the door of the bishop. He tells her no. Then she convinces him to do so.
When Valjean knocks on the door late in the evening, the bishop and his sister are startled, but open the door. They see Valjean and he tells them he is a criminal and needs food and shelter. Ironically for Valjean, they take him in, feed him, and give him a place to rest for the night. During dinner, Valjean notices the pure silverware. The bishop catches his eye but says nothing. In the middle of the night, Valjean gets up and steals the silverware out of the cupboard, and he heads off into the night. The next morning the bishop’s sister scolds her brother for ever letting a criminal stay, because he stole their silverware. The bishop reassures her that they did not even need pure silverware and that everything will be alright.
Later on in the day, two police officers bring Jean Valjean to the bishop’s door, and they ask him if the silverware belonged to him. The bishop smiles and tells the police that he had given them to Valjean as a gift, but he forgot to take the silver candlesticks as well. While handing Valjean the silver candlesticks, the bishop whispers in his ear that this is his chance to start a new life. Astonished, Valjean walks away a free man and does as the bishop told him.
The story goes on with great action, drama, and enertainment. Overall, this is one of my favorite inspirational movies because of all the emotions, actions of selflessness, and wisdom to be gained.
