I am reaching, but I fall
And the night is closing in
And I stare into the void
To the whirlpool of my sin
– Les Miserables musical – What Have I Done
The following ideas are based on the recent adaptation of Victor Hugo’s les miserables.
Have images in technology increased our emotions or robbed us of their purity? are we allowed to relate to the pain in les miserables while portraying our own lives, or is it not our right for we do not gothrough such circumstances. Are we allowed to view our lives in this so called manner of drama? or is it the fast pace of our lives and the increase of shallow experiences that leaves no space for such strong emotions?
Victor Hugo’s genius of the 19th century, A story of many lives, of redemption, sin, poverty, revolution, despair, wealth, love, death …. simply of life.
From a contemporary point of view, where such obvious images are no longer to be seen, what is the redefinition of misery in a world where people spend their hours on GTA and ipads? those human feelings and despairs. why do we still relate to les miserables in the twenty first century unless the genius behind the description of Hugo are not merely for the people of 19th century france, but of the human nature as a whole. Hugo is not telling a story but merely illustrating the twists of being human. This article maybe a look at Hugo’s genius on human nature, and yet be a critique of the state of man in the twenty first century.
What have I done?
Sweet Jesus, what have I done?
Become a thief in the night
Become a dog on the run
And have I fallen so far
And is the hour so late
That nothing remains but the cry of my hate?
The cries in the dark that nobody hears,
-Valjan’s cries for redemption in the musical (Valjean’s Soliloquy)
A subject that interests all men even with our converse shoes and our ragged jeans, We all have some symptoms of psychological problems in our behavior, however you are not diagnosed with a syndrome unless you have most of its symptoms for a consistent time, ofcourse alot of the syndromes are connected to your surrounding environment. It is the same with human feelings and thoughts if I may say so, we all have those small neurological sparks, yet who has the circumstances for them to arise, will see it manifest in a way or another. In a philosophical manner Gibran argues on criminals and their motives:
And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone.
Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.
to read his whole idea on crime and punishment refer to: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/gibran/prophet/prophet.htm#Crime
He basically says that we all have a criminal in us it is just that who has the circumstances for that spark to take fire. He also says that every criminal has to be punished yet not out casted, same with valjan in les mis, he was punished yet all he asked for after was acceptance, that after the day is done he is as human as any of us.
On the refusal of other to accept a criminal’s redemption in les mes:
I’ve hunted you across the years
A man like you can never change
A man such as you.
Javer – Confrontation
As Fantine also says in the musical:
Is there anyone here
Who can swear before God
She has nothing to fear?
She has nothing to hide?
– Fantine, at the end of the day
Most of the characters in the book have committed a wrong in one manner or the other yet the writer does not judge them as sinners, but tells their stories of misery.
on a side note the idea of god was linked to redemption, goodness and love.
Valjan’s questions on who he is when he is faced with a choice of having a man take the blame for him or facing the unjust system of law,
If I speak, I am condemned.
If I stay silent, I am damned!
In his case this is one scene and one point in life, but isn’t this scene the reason why he asked the question that has always been on his mind? The circumstances the reason behind his realization are separate from the fact that this question is a built in inquiry, the un-oiled door that makes a squeaking voice each time you open it. the question that floats in your mind every day yet you never catch it until a certain circumstance shines upon you.
Is the pain felt by Eponine over not being with the man she loves equivlant to the pain of a woman lost in poverty and dragged to prostitioun, or a man fighting for his country? is there a scale for misery, that hugo used for all his miseries or is this misery less cause its only related to her? well Hugo does kill her after all.
At the end of the day you’re another day older
And that’s all you can say for the life of the poor
It’s a struggle, it’s a war
And there’s nothing that anyone’s giving
One more day standing about, what is it for?
One day less to be living.
Poverty and war are two words that only cease to exist in Utopia, However what if these lines were not said by the poor, don’t we all feel this at points. it is ironic how a woman with alot of show of emotions is described as a ‘drama queen’ in our days, and how such reactions by these women are simply a manifest from movies and series seen on tv, our reality has become a blend with technology up to the point were reality is void due to questionings of its stand point. It is a rather confusing matter, are movies our small outbursts of these emotions and ideas that are built in our minds?
An Idea that may be separate yet related to a point to the subject, it is said that the chemicals produced in the mind while watching a horror movie would greatly resemble those produced if the ‘horror’ scene was a part of reality, I find that fact rather wonderous, you can feel love but a love directed at a screen , you can feel fear while you are safe, you can go through a revolution while sitting on your couch staring at a samsung 3D TV these simulated feelings do make the lives of the masses more stable I must agree with that, keeps us from actually going through the bad situations that do arise the bad feelings demonstrated in les mes, but on the other hands, do we want simulated feelings of love? simulated feelings of joy? and not feel the purity of these feelings in reality. Hugo has demonstrated human feelings and ideas brilliantly which is why we can still relate to them now, for all of these sparks are a part of us.
“The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.”
― Victor Hugo
“Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say do you hear the distant drums?
There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!
Aaaaahhhh!
Tomorrow comes!”
-Epilogue
we grew up to these stories, ideas and mythologies that we overlooked the true description behind these tales, it is true that Hugo tried to end with hope, and lightened the world on cosette, yes as a normal reader I would call that ‘cheesy’ our contemporary writings over look the simplified aspect of life, hugo ended with hope cause that is how we all go on, through all the sorrow we might face, we always end up feeding on hope, even when its imaginary, even if its for others, yet it the only whip the makes us run to the next day. it might be debatable but Hugo illustrated death as peace not darkness, his characters took refugee in the end of hope, we may say that Hugo was cruel for his characters were living in misery yet fed on hope.
I will cry with more misery than all, for the real human feelings have come to fade. and thier existance a source of humor to other humans.
Hanging out with Abu masoud #friends #besties
ديسلكسيا حسية 