Justice In Les Miserables By Elie Wiesel

In society, even today a clash between justice and the law often exists. The purpose of the law is to preserve justice and maintain order. Therefore, justice and the law should work in unison. However, many times law and justice clash. In Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, the tension and clash are demonstrated. Jean Valjean and Bishop Myriel represent justice and mercy, while Javert portrays the law. They are all honorable in their principles, yet they clash as opposing tides of society. First, it is important to understand what the law carried by Javert is defined as. In Hugo’s novel, the law is a series of principles and standards laid out by the government and society. The law states that stealing is a crime and has a set punishment. Likewise, bailing on parole or escape attempts are also violations of the law which must be punished. The law is regulations

After escaping from custody, following Fantine’s death. He goes to retrieve Cosette. Realistically, many people would have simply fled rather than rescuing Cosette. He did so because justice dictated that he uphold his word to Fantine. Also, Cosette was being unjustly mistreated. So, Jean Valjean pursued justice by retrieving Cosette in order to provide justice for her and her late mother, Fantine. However, his sense of justice was so profound that he raised Cosette as his own child. This is demonstrated by the line, “She called him Father, and knew him by no other name,” and “he began to love Cosette,”. He truly cared about her and raised her as his own daughter. He likely felt some responsibility for Fantine’s death considering she was fired from her job at his factory and died after learning the truth about Jean Valjean from Javert. Likewise, he knew that Cosette would be an orphan. Therefore, Jean Valjean’s sense of justice and compassion led him to take in Cosette, because it was the righteous action to take for both Fantine and her