Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables isn’t just a sweeping historical drama. It’s a rich, spiritual allegory about the battle between legalism and grace, the cruelty of manmade laws, and the redemptive power of compassion. Whether you prefer the musical, the novel, or one of its many film adaptations, the message remains the same: forgiveness transforms, love redeems, and no one is beyond salvation. Through the lives of Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert, Hugo invites readers to confront their own beliefs about justice, mercy, and what it means to truly be free.

I still remember the first time I saw the Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush adaptation of Les Misérables, loosely based on the novel by Victor Hugo. When she grabbed it off the Blockbuster shelf, I gave her a weird look after reading the back cover. A movie about prostitutes and criminals? But I trusted her judgment, and we took it back to her house. I sat on her couch, hugging a pillow against my chest for the next two and a half hours. The tension, romance, and peril got to me. I held my breath as the conclusion unfolded and slowly exhaled as the credits rolled. I bought a copy of it the next day.

There are many adaptations of the novel, some more accurate than others, as well as an award-winning Broadway musical and Radio Theater Presentation. It varies between individuals which version is their favorite, but for me it’s the Neeson/Rush film, because I saw it first and I prefer its uplifting conclusion to the ones more referential to the original novel. Yes, it condenses everything and vilifies Javert, but you can’t beat the tension! And while much altered from the source material (for length and dramatic purposes) it keeps the book’s messages about forgiveness, redemption, and the conflict between legalism and grace.

But let’s talk about the story in general! It centers on a man imprisoned for theft. Valjean steals bread to feed his family and goes to prison for it. His many attempts to escape culminate in a prolonged and deeply unfair sentence. During this time, he meets a prison guard named Javert. Many years later, when Valjean gets his freedom, it is impossible for him to find shelter because of his “yellow passport” (papers that show he is a convict). The world mistreats him, so he mistreats it in return… until a bishop welcomes him into his home and gives him a bed for the night.

Valjean rewards him by stealing his silver and running away in the middle of the night, but when the authorities apprehend him and return him to the bishop, his patron lies to them and says he gave the silver to Valjean as a gift. He then offers them to him. “With this silver,” he says seriously, “I have bought your soul [from evil].”

This life-altering moment changes everything for Valjean, who assumes a different name and begins anew, vowing to repay the bishop’s kindness with good deeds. He wants to earn his salvation by being just, fair, and good. He has become the beloved mayor and primary benefactor of a small town when Javert resurfaces, this time as an Inspector transferred to the local police force from Paris. Javert does not immediately recognize Valjean, but pieces together the truth when he witnesses Valjean display an incredible show of strength similar to that of a convict he knew in prison.

Since forging a new passport and not reporting to his parole officer is a crime, Valjean again flees for his life, this time with the child of a prostitute in tow, whom he saved after he failed to rescue her mother from poverty. The story shifts between two men, one trying to keep his promise to the bishop, and the other determined to bring him to justice. Hugo weaves in many other characters, political statements, social commentary, and themes, ranging from revolution to romance, but the primary focus revolves around two very different men. 

Whether you read the novel or watch one of the many adaptations, the basic principles of the story are the same.

One way to interpret the symbolism is to draw a contrast between the laws and judgment of the Old Testament and the mercy, compassion, and salvation of the New. What do I mean? Old Testament teachings were a series of laws that could not be violated under any circumstance in order for Man to be considered “worthy” of serving God, whereas when Christ entered the world, he proclaimed through his teachings and actions (which often conflicted with the Jewish laws of the times) that laws were no longer needed, for he would act as our intermediary through grace. Jesus felt people are more important than laws and compassion should always override rules, something Valjean takes to heart in his continued attempts to avoid capture (for the good of his workers and his adopted daughter, Cosette).

Javert is a man whose life is governed by laws; to him, nothing makes sense outside the law. Either you keep society’s rules or you break them. Those who keep them are by definition “good” (such as himself, for he has “never broken a single law”), and those who break them are “evil” (like Fantine for her prostitution, Cosette for her illegitimate birth, and Valjean for his crimes). He cannot comprehend redemption because he cannot fathom how grace can transcend and surpass the Law. His rigid adherence to his own principles ultimately breaks him. Ultimately, Javert discovers Valjean is a redeemed man who deserves life and liberty. Because Javert allows him to escape justice, he must kill himself, because he has broken the law, and holds himself to the same standard he imposes on everyone else. In his mind, he has broken the law and deserves death.

Of course, that is not his only reason… does he commit suicide to avoid the humiliation of the eventual discovery of his “sin”? Is it because he knows he will never stop hunting his adversary? Or an act of self-hatred because he has learned that a criminal is a better man than he will ever be? It could be none of these reasons or all of them: we never knows for certain.

In abiding by the law, Javert becomes the villain of the story. In trying to “never break a single rule,” he treats other people with cruelty, contempt, and a lack of regard for their social welfare.

Desperation, poverty, and hunger force Valjean into criminal behavior, and he becomes brutal and cruel because of his imprisonment. He never experienced the kindness of another human being until the bishop did one good deed and forever altered his course. From that moment on, Valjean makes godliness his lifelong aim. His salvation changes him from a selfish man into a selfless one, willing to give up his life for another, and eager to do what he can to protect those he loves. He takes in Fantine, gives Cosette a home and education, takes pity on the poor, looks out for Marius, and even spares Javert’s life when a Revolutionary wants to take it.

The distinction lies in the motives of the two men: Javert likes rules. They are absolute. There are never exceptions and must not be broken. He cannot imagine bending a rule for any reason or imagine a situation in which the law might be wrong. His god is the law: a harsh, unyielding, unforgiving god that does not allow for second chances.

Valjean has a different God, one who believes in compassion and love. It is love he offers to Fantine, in penance for unknowingly causing her to fall into a life of sin; a pure, selfless love that does not dismiss her past, but forgives it; love he extends to her daughter and eventually, to Marius in saving his life; love that compels him in the novel to leave both of them in the belief they will be better accepted in society for not associating with him; even love that prevents him from killing Javert. This most dramatic action reflects the love that saved Valjean from his fallen state.

Victor Hugo believed in the mercies of God more than the rules of God, and this is never more apparent than in Les Misérables, his most powerful novel, and a story of one man’s quest for redemption in a harsh world.