After watching the musical, I think I learned a lot of things, at least I took away many thoughts, about humanity, kindness, love, hope and reality. Jean Valjean has been a prisoner for 19 years and now he is finally released. From what I saw, I feel that he has a lot of hate in his heart at that time. Fortunately, he met the Bishop, who greeted him with warmth and kindness. He even lied to the police officers for Jean Valjean so that he wouldn't have to go back to prison again. All that kindness changed Jean Valjean and pulled him out of the darkness. It persuaded and pushed him to become a better man. Sometimes, kindness can save a person's life. Another thing I learned is to never lose hope. In the musical, so many people are desperate, either because of starvation, coldness, or despair. This is usually reflected by the poor. But I believe that everyone still has at least a little hope inside them to help them go on with their lives. A good example would be the revolution. At first, the public had a lot of hope to make a change to France. People sacrificed all their furniture and even their lives for a free France. But when they lost hope, the result is losing courage to fight and giving up. One more thing is that I think the musical reflects the reality at that time. There is love and hate; kind and evil; joy and sorrow; right and wrong; truth and lies; and dreams and reality. Sometimes, reality can be ruthless and painful. In that time period, there was a huge difference or gap between the wealthy and the poor. The rough times killed many people. They had no choice but to face the harsh reality: not only for themselves, but for the people they love. The lesson I learned here is that life is hard and sometimes cruel, but we have to learn to adapt and live on strongly and bravely.
There are many scenes that stood out to me (actually the whole musical did), but these are few that really touched my heart. The first one is when the Bishop lied to the police officers that he gave the silver to Jean Valjean as a gift to prevent him from going back to life as a slave. He was robbed by Jean Valjean and he can still be that kind to him. I feel that not many people can even forgive in this kind of situation. Furthurmore, the bishop gave Jean Valjean the silver candlesticks and told him to become an honest man. Another scene is when Jean Valjean told the truth in court that he is actually prisoner 24601 and that they've got the wrong person. He would rather become a slave again himself than having to put an innocent person in this situation. If he didn't step up and tell the truth, he would be going against his heart. A third and fourth scene is when Gavroche and Eponine die at the barricade. Their sacrifice for the revolution was so sad and heartbreaking. Nobody deserves to die. Gavroche only wanted to get more bullets for everyone and he is still a little boy. And Eponine, she took a bullet for Marius and died for her true love. The last scene was when Jean Valjean releases Javert when he was captured and later on, Javert decides to set Jean Valjean free after a deep and long struggle in his heart and then commits suicide. This gets me thinking of what is right and what is wrong in this world? What is the law supposed to be? I don't think I can answer these questions clearly but I think Jean Valjean let Javert go because of kindness and Javert let Jean Valjean go because he owns him for it. It is a very powerful scene.
A very outstanding theme in the musical is love. I think it is expressed thoughout the whole musical. At first, Fantine's love for her daughter Cosette was critical. If she didn't love her, she could have abandoned Costte and left her starving and afraid by herself. But instead, she found a family to take care of her and she worked hard to pay for the child. Fantine tried her best in her abilities to give little Cosette a better life. She even sold her hair, teeth and body for Cosette, which proves how much she loves her. Then the love switches to Jean Valjean. He fought Javert to get to Cosette and spent a big amount of money to buy her back. From that time on, he became the character of a father to Cosette and gave her care and protection. He educated her and gave her a life without much worries. He loved her to the end. Another kind of love is the love at first sight of Marius and Cosette. Their love makes them think of each other every second. And when they meet again, they can express their love so beautifully through "A Heart Full of Love". This love turned them into a happy married couple. In contrast, Eponine's love for Marius is different because Marius doesn't love her back. It is sad how Eponine would do anything to make Marius happy, even if it means disobeying her father and getting hit; helping Marius find Cosette and turning away silently; disguising herself as a boy and accompanying Marius at the barricade; or taking a bullet for Marius and dying on the ground. Love is powerful and important in this musical. Without love, no one could have survived.
A motif in "Les Miserables" is the unwanted. It comes up again and again and there are always people who are "unwanted". At the beginning, it was Jean Valjean who got rejected at every job he could find. The cause is the yellow ticket that says he has been a prisoner and is dangerous. Nobody wants a former prisoner to do their jobs in the fear that they will make the same mistake or commit the same crime again. So they become the "unwanted". Then it's Fantine who is unwanted at her workplace because she has a child without the father. I think it is seen as a disgrace and as a burden by others at that time. The others think that she will cause trouble. To make matters worse, the foreman likes Fantine and the moment he finds out, the moment Fantine is fired. In Thenardier's house, little Cosette is "unwanted". They treat her badly, letting her do all the chores and not giving her any love and care. That's why when Jean Valjean comes to take her back, the Thenadiers can only fakethat the parting is really hard. In the love triangle, I think Eponine is the "unwanted" or the outsider. And there are still so many people who are "unwanted" in the musical, including the poor, the beggars, the slaves and the revolutionists. In conclusion, there are always people who are unwanted because there will always be inequality in the world.
