Victor HUGO, Les Misérables, C1 3000 Headwords, Penguin Readers

By Álvaro Conesa, 1° Bachillerato EFL

Jean Valjean is a poor man who was sent to jail because he stole a baguette. Once he was free he went to a new town. Here, no-one wanted to know him because he had been in prison. Only the Bishop helped him and invited him to his house. However, Valjean stole the Bishop’s silver cutlery. Within hours Valjean was arrested. The townsfolk were going to judge him but the Bishop defended him. The Bishop told everyone that the cutlery had been a present for Valjean. The Bishop saved Valjean’s life, but told him that he had to change and become a new man.

Valjean did so and years later he became Minister of Justice, changed his name (now he was Monseniur La Marie) and adopted a little girl (Cossette). However…

I think it’s an interesting book. I would recommend it to people who enjoy novels and those who would like to know how France was during the French Revolution. I consider that this is a great book because it shows how a poor man changed his life with effort. He never surrendered. Also, I would like to point out the Bishop’s behaviour. He helped Valjean even when he knew that he had stolen from him. The Bishop is an example of a good person. For me, the moral of this story is that we don’t have to be afraid of the problems that surround us, we need to be brave and face them. Moreover, we have to keep up our hope and never back down.