Les Miserables Preface

Hugo’s Preface

So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century---the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light—are unsolved; so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world;—in other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Miserables cannot fail to be of use.

My Reflection

Victor Hugo is saying in his preface that as long as punishments exist because of what society decides, Les Miserables will always need to be read. The artificial hells that he refers to are pronounced by society, meaning that the people are strongly stating punishments that should be given out, that are probably more serious than the crime originally committed. These hells are within everyday life all over the world. When Jean Valjean is released from prison he just goes into more of a prison. At least in prison he was with other people just like him. When he goes back into the real world he is the only one who has committed a crime and is looked down upon because of it. When Jean is released into what is supposed to be a new life, he is ironically treated the same or even worse than when he was in prison. The corruption of women through hunger can best be shown by Fantine. She becomes a prostitute because she has nothing and even sells her teeth and hair. She is corrupted by a hunger for something big; she hungers for a love after being dumped by the man she thought that she was in love with. All she wanted was to see Cosette and was corrupted by this hunger. An example of the crippling of children is how Cosette has to eat under the table at her foster parent’s home. Her lack of light is her lack of good parenting. By saying that until these issues of society are solved, Les Miserables, and book like it, will always need to be read; Hugo is saying that they will always be read. Society will always have these problems because we are human and these are the characteristics of a human society. The bottom line is that Les Miserables must always be read to teach the readers how to better live life.

My Preface

So long as there shall exist, by failed parenting, students who cannot create motivation for themselves, not working hard for the grade that they desire, and holding back those who actually want to learn; so long as the three great problems of the twenty-first century student- the procrastination of school work through x-box, the carelessness of students through a lack of determination, and the crippling of class time through unneeded conversation-are not corrected; so long as a student can value something more than an education;- In other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as self motivation and hard work do not exist in every student, the educators of the nature of Tim Ballard cannot fail to be of use.