Heartbreak And Hardships: A Look Into Women Subjected By Hunger

Heartbreak and Hardships: A Look Into Women Subjected By Hunger
On the lengthy path of life it is inevitable that you will come across struggle. The novel Les Miserables by Victor Hugo was written during the French Revolution which created struggles for men, women, and children. During these times women were subjected into prostitution due to one simple fact; they needed money to live. Among this large group of women, there is a woman named Fantine. Victor Hugo uses the novel Les Miserables and the character Fantine to effectively portray the women subjected by hunger to highlight the importance of how love and compassion should guide one's actions. He shows this through her relationships with her family, Cosette, Tholomyes, and Jean Valjean.

Fantine indeed was desperate, as well as innocent. She had no one to rely on or even talk to. Because of this she ends up falling into the wrong crowd of misfit girls. These girls introduce Fantine to her first love, Felix Tholomyes. Fantine fell head over heels in love with Tholomyes. The problem with this is that Tholomyes does not feel the same about Fantine. This breaks Fantine’s heart, especially because Tholomyes is the father of Fantine’s child, Cosette. This is explained by Hugo in the quote, “She worked in order to live, and presently fall in love, also in order to live, for the heart too, has it’s hunger. She fell in love with Tholomyes. For him it was a passing affair, for her the love of her life” (Hugo 9). This quote by Hugo deeply explains Fantine’s thirst for love and how she eventually gets swindled because of it. She was young and innocent and did not know better. This shows that love and compassion should guide one’s actions or else you will end up hurting someone who does not deserve it, like Tholomyes and

At this point she had endured all of life’s struggles and she is ultimately tired. Fantine’s state at this point in the novel is explained in the quote, “Fantine has endured all, borne all, experienced all, suffered all, lost all, wept for all. She is resigned, with that resignation that resembles indifference as death resembles sleep” (“Les Miserables” 233). This quote very well explains how Fantine had basically no more strength to go on. The only purpose she has left in life is her daughter Cosette. As Fantine is in the hospital bed she requests for Jean Valjean to retrieve Cosette so she can see her before she dies. For once in Fantine’s life someone shows her real compassion and Jean Valjean goes to get Cosette. Fantine dies before she ever gets to see Cosette. All of Fantine’s life she radiated love and compassion to anyone who payed attention to her. In return, she never got to feel any real love or compassion. Victor Hugo shows how much Fantine struggles to represent why you should always show people love and compassion or else they will struggle, like