The Messiah of the Poor: Valjean’s Eventful Journey from Hell to Emancipation

Abstract

The present study brings into focus the character Jean Valjean as an individual who succumbs to adverse circumstances becoming a criminal in the eyes of law. The study analyses him as an individual who faces hell as a convict and ultimately finds redemption from sin through the benevolent interference of the bishop who buys his soul with silver and gives it to God. Finally, Valjean metamorphoses into a kind and sympathetic individual who serves the poor of society ; and is ultimately raised to the position of Mayor of Montreuil , remembered by the poor as their Messiah.