Who is javert in les mis

When he's tracking down and arresting criminals, he's like a pig in… well, let's let Hugo tell us:. Javert was in heaven. Without being fully conscious of the fact, but still with a sense of his importance and achievement, he was at that moment the personification of justice, light, and truth in their sublime task of stamping out evil.

No wonder that his world turns upside down when Jean Valjean saves him from being killed by a gang of French rebels. After Valjean has let Javert go, Javert turns around and does the same to Valjean. This single act breaks Javert's moral code and destroys Javert's sense of right and wrong.

As the book tells us, "his greatest anguish was the loss of certainty. He had been torn up by the roots. The code he lived by was in fragments in his hand" 5.

In the end, he's so overwhelmed by Valjean's act of compassion that he jumps off a bridge and kills himself. It turns out that he has lived in a world of "black and white" morality for too long to suddenly switch to a world filled with shades of grey.

Parents Home Homeschool College Resources. But how to manage to send in his resignation to God? He is strangely heroic in his tragedy, plunging from success to death from a single act of kindness. He is, in that way, wonderfully consistent. Javert is an original archetype of the relentless law enforcer, who has inspired numerous, richly drawn characters in books and film.

Marshal Raylan Givens in Justified. Gerard in the film, The Fugitive, was written as a modern-day version of Javert. He doggedly pursues the protagonist, Dr. Even the Dementors in the Harry Potter Series fit the trope, relentlessly pursuing their targets with cold, unbiased calculation and the inability to distinguish any mitigating circumstances.

The relentless law enforcer is unable, or unwilling, to recognize whether their target is either wrongly accused or has already been redeemed. For Javert, and those who were inspired by him, there is no moral gray area. There are only those who follow the law, and those who break it. Advertisers: Contact Us. Privacy Policy. April 1, By Stephanie Jo Harris. To understand Javert, Hugo gives us a little insight as to the past that drives him. Article continues after advertisement.

Breaking Bad cops Dr. Stephanie Jo Harris Stephanie Harris is the author of psychological thrillers, and she has a special affection for all things disturbing and uncomfortable.

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