Les Miserables - Reconciliation between a Man and Himself Essay

Les Miserables - Reconciliation between a Man and Himself   The ending of the Victor Hugo novel, Les Miserables, contains a reconciliation between a man and himself, and his family.  This is, in many ways, the entire purpose of the book.  Goodness or saintliness can be achieved, despite difficult or unwholesome beginnings.  This beginning is an enduring one, because of both its truth and its presentation.  Fay Weldon may as well have been describing Les Miserables when she said "The writer, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting chemical reaction from readers are the writers who offer happy endings through moral development .... some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death." The hero Jean Valjean undergoes quite the transformation throughout the course of his story.  He begins as a criminal and convict with absolutely no scruples.  A genial prelate forgives him after a theft, and s imply turns the other cheek.  This act of unexpected generosity inspires Valjean...