Basically, most of the novel addresses social issues, speaking of injustice, class conflict, and the necessity of revolution. One particularly insightful portion of the text comes from Fantine's section at the beginning of the novel. We learn that Jean Valjean has just been released from prison where he has been serving a nineteen-year sentence for stealing bread to give to starving children.
While the injustice here is obvious, Jean Valjean continues to endure prejudice against his state as a former criminal and as a poor man. He must show a yellow passport to all officials he encounters and is continually denied food, lodging, and respect. Jean Valjean notes that "Liberation is not deliverance. A convict may leave the galleys behind, but not his condemnation" (26). What this means is that once a person becomes a criminal in the eyes of society, he remains with that label throughout his life. His release means nothing. Nobody asks his reason for the theft.
This brings us to the idea that society at this time was simply unjust to the poor. No matter who was in power, the poor were left to starve and suffer.
Edition used:
Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. Trans. Charles Wilbour. New York: Fawcett, 1961.
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