MetropolitanistOne part of the narrative I wanted to spend some time reflecting on his Victor Hugo’s early critique of the French carceral system in Les Miserables.
We find this critique at the start in the figure of Jean Valjean, who, upon lawfully leaving the galleys having completed his sentence, can find no place to stay due to the stigma of his yellow convict’s passport. The novel will follow his redemption, a redemption precipitated not by the time that he serves, but by the kindness of Father Bienvenu.
On the subject of Valjean’s conviction the narrative begins “What a mournful moment is that in which society withdraws itself and gives up a thinking being forever. Jean Valjean was sentenced to five years in the galleys.” Hugo reframes the carceral system not as a reforming process, but as a dereliction of a society’s duty to its citizens. The judicial system does not mindfully reform, it banishes to hard labor and forgets.
In the subsequent pages we learn that Valjean receives this harsh conviction for attempting to steal a loaf of bread to feed his starving nieces and nephews. The narration states “English statistics show that in London starvation is the immediate cause of four thefts out of five,” suggesting that it is a systemic societal problem that is leading to criminality and not the character of the criminal. This intersects with another major social commentary in the novel, on wealth disparity and how it leads to societal instability on a national scale.
Rather than reforming Jean Valjean, we learn his time in person has shaped him into the unfeeling form of the judicial system: “Jean Valjean entered the galleys sobbing and shuddering: he went out hardened; he entered in despair: he went out sullen. What had been the life of this soul?”
His sentence has, we learn, made him more criminal rather than less so, a scathing commentary on the judicial system.
QOTD: What old book makes you reflect on how little progress we’ve made since it was written?
Metropolitanist One part of the narrative I wanted to spend some time reflecting on his Victor Hugo’s early critique of the French carceral system in Les Miserables.
Show moreWe find this critique at the start in the figure of Jean Valjean, who, upon lawfully leaving the galleys having completed his sentence, can find no place to stay due to the stigma of his yellow convict’s passport. The novel will follow his redemption, a redemption precipitated not by the time that he serves, but by the kindness of Father Bienvenu.
On the subject of Valjean’s conviction the narrative begins “What a mournful moment is that in which society withdraws itself and gives up a thinking being forever. Jean Valjean was sentenced to five years in the galleys.” Hugo reframes the carceral system not as a reforming process, but as a dereliction of a society’s duty to its citizens. The judicial system does not mindfully reform, it banishes to hard labor and forgets.
In the subsequent pages we learn that Valjean receives this harsh conviction for attempting to steal a loaf of bread to feed his starving nieces and nephews. The narration states “English statistics show that in London starvation is the immediate cause of four thefts out of five,” suggesting that it is a systemic societal problem that is leading to criminality and not the character of the criminal. This intersects with another major social commentary in the novel, on wealth disparity and how it leads to societal instability on a national scale.
Rather than reforming Jean Valjean, we learn his time in person has shaped him into the unfeeling form of the judicial system: “Jean Valjean entered the galleys sobbing and shuddering: he went out hardened; he entered in despair: he went out sullen. What had been the life of this soul?”
His sentence has, we learn, made him more criminal rather than less so, a scathing commentary on the judicial system.
QOTD: What old book makes you reflect on how little progress we’ve made since it was written?
#bookstodon