Javert Pride And Prejudice Quotes

Javert prides himself on following the law without excusing himself or anyone else. Javert’s avid following of the law is likely because he “was born in a prison,” (54). Both of Javert’s parents are convicts who met in prison which leads Javert to want to break away from his family’s reputation as criminals and gypsies. Javert begins to feel only disdain toward his family, then later all criminals. His narration says as much when he states that he has “nothing but disdain, aversion, and disgust for all who had once overstepped the bounds of the law,” (55). This quote demonstrates that Javert views all criminals as something less than human. This dislike toward criminals is what made him focus so much attention on Jean Valjean. Javert sees that

Jean Valjean, a known convict, escapes his grasp and decides that he must capture Jean Valjean. Javert has no way of knowing is Jean Valjean is a danger to the general public or not, and treats him as he would treat any other criminal.
BP2: Jean Valjean has several shifts of perspective during Les Misérables regarding which laws he should obey.

At the very beginning of the book, Jean Valjean follows no laws and thus sees the world as a very dark place with next to no kindness. When Bishop Myriel first shows him kindness, his face "expressed stupefaction, doubt, joy, and became absolutely wonderful," (16). After he is shown this kindness, he makes a promise to be an honest man. After promising to be an honest man, he begins to see the world as a better place that has many generous people in it. Jean Valjean finds a balance between following the law and following his own morals, and demonstrates as much when he fakes his death (146). By faking his death, Jean Valjean shows his notion that sometimes a person must break the law of man if it is for the greater good. In this case, Jean Valjean finds it acceptable to break the law under the circumstances of finding Cosette and keeping his promise to Fantine. In a similar fashion, Jean Valjean continues to avoid law enforcement after taking Cosette in order to keep them

safe.
BP3: Jean Valjean and Javert see the world in extremely different ways.

Where Javert sees the world in extremes of good and evil, Jean Valjean sees a much larger gray area. Because of this difference in opinion, Jean Valjean and Javert act very differently which leads to them clashing. A major disagreement in values between them is when Jean Valjean reveals that he had been in disguise as Father Madeleine for years (118). Jean Valjean does not see it as a major issue to pretend to be someone that he is not due to the fact that he views all of his criminal acts to be done by an almost completely different person. Since Jean Valjean is committing admirable acts as the mayor of this town, he does not see it as important to disclose his true identity. However, Javert strongly believes that any criminal will never become an outstanding citizen. He does not have any reason to assume that Jean Valjean has greatly changed since his sentence in prison ended, and therefore treats Jean Valjean as he would any convict. Another time in which Javert and Jean Valjean disagreed due to their opposite morals is when they encountered Fantine. When Javert first met Fantine, he saw her only as a prostitute and criminal (70). He does not take her opinion of what had occurred into consideration as it was her word against the word of a seemingly innocent man. However, when Jean Valjean meets Fantine the first time, he instantly offers to pay off her debt and to help her daughter (76). The

difference between the actions of Javert and of Jean Valjean are due to the way that they have lived their lives. Javert has lived seeing only criminals and innocent people, and does not believe that there is anything in between these two extremes. Jean Valjean, on the other hand, has lived as a criminal and convict which gives him the experience to see that Fantine is an innocent woman who is trying to survive. Javert and Jean Valjean see the world in two extremely different ways for many reasons.