Monday, December 10, 2012

Les Miserables Book Project


Jean Valjean’s Personality
Introvert, Sensor, Feeler, Perceiver
Jean Valjean is, in my opinion, a spontaneous open minded character. He is very dedicated to causes such as stealing bread for his sister’s children. After being released from prison I think Jean became a very compassionate being. You don’t really see this until after the bishop shows him such generosity. Jean isn’t quick to judge because he didn’t appreciate being judged by the people of Digne. Every inn that he went to wouldn’t allow him to stay because he was an x-convict. Jean believes in getting to fully know a persons’ story before judging them.

Parts of Speech that Relate to Jean Valjean
Verb
Accepting- Jean Valjean was treated very poorly in the town of Digne and after being shown what compassion was by the bishop he learned that being accepting of others is the right thing to do.
Noun
Dog- Jean was described as a dog when he says that even a dog would be happy than he. He is compared to a dog multiple times in the book.
Adjective
Spontaneous- He makes decisions without thinking all the way through such as stealing the bread for his sister’s children or even trying to break out of prison multiple times, which just added time to his sentence.

Dense Question
Text- Explain why Jean Valjean felt so honored to be treated the way that he was in the bishop’s home.
Other Lit/World- Describe how Jean Valjean’s experience at the bishop’s house is similar to how equality felt when he discovered the house form the unmentionable times.
Reader- Talk about a time when you have experienced an over whelming feeling of welcome from someone when you didn’t expect it.


After Spending sixteen years in prison, Jean Valjean was finally set free. I assume that he wasn’t treated very well in prison because of how much of a different man he is when he came out- a hardened man. The book says that he travels a long way on foot into the town of Digne, and he just wants a place to sleep and eat. He knocks on the doors of every inn in the town and each of them says the same thing when they find out that he is a convict. Not even the dog would let him stay with him. When he finally goes to the bishop’s house, the bishops treats him like a human- Jean was not used to this treatment. The simple word, “Sir,” made him ecstatic. Jean Valjean was not used to this generosity since he had been in prison so long and everyone had kicked him out.
                The similarity between Jean Valjean’s experience and that of Equality is that they both had a sense of freedom when they walked into the houses. Jean’s freedom was that he was finally being treated like a human again, and Equality’s freedom was just that, he was free from the society that wouldn’t let him be himself.
                I have had an experience like this before. It was when I went on a church mission trip with my youth group. I had not been that involved in youth group, so I was afraid that I wouldn’t have that much fun because I wouldn’t know anyone. To my surprise everyone was just so welcoming of me and made me feel like I fit in. Just like Equality and Jean Valjean a burden had been lifted off my shoulders.

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