A little more than two months ago, precisely on 26th February, the French writer Victor Hugo would complete 220 years old, so this post is a tribute to him. He fought for human dignity, justice, political inclusion and democracy in his writings and in his political work. This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo. The second was published at https://isreview.org/issue/89/enduring-relevance-victor-hugo/index.html. The third was published at https://www.wya.net/op-ed/what-les-miserables-taught-us-about-human-dignity/
Victor Marie Hugo (1802-1885) was a French novelist of the Romantic movement. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote abundantly in a variety of genres. Hugo is considered to be one of the best-known French writers. Though he was a committed royalist when young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism serving in politics as both deputy and senator. His opposition to absolutism and his colossal literary achievement established him as a national hero. He was the youngest son of Joseph Hugo, a general in the Napoleonic army. In 1848, Hugo was elected to the National Assembly, he broke with the conservatives when he gave a speech calling for the end of misery and poverty. Other speeches called for universal suffrage and free education for all children. When Louis Napoleon seized power in 1851, establishing an anti-parliamentary constitution, Hugo openly declared him a traitor to France. He moved to Brussels, then to Jersey and finally to Guersey, where he would live in exile from 1855 until 1870. While in exile, Hugo published his famous political pamphets against Napoleon III. Throughout his life Hugo kept believing in unstoppable humanistic progress. In 1879, he prophesied in an optimistic way, "In the 20th century, war will be dead, hatred will be dead, frontier boundaries wll be dead, dogmas will be dead; man will live." Hugo's death from pneumonia at the age of 83, generated intense mourning. He was not only revered as a towering figure in literature, he was a statesman who shaped democracy in France. All his life he remained a defender of liberty, equality and fraternity as well as an adamant champion of French culture. To understand the significance of Victor Hugo, one must begin at the end, with his death on May 1885. His funeral attracted more than two million people, one of the largest mass mobilization ever seen in Paris. The French government was aware that Hugo's funeral would attract masses of people and feared an uprising. In an attempt to capitalize on his death, the government co-opted the service, preparing a massive tribute to the writer. Despite all the pomp and circumstance, it was truly a festival of the oppressed, and the exploited arrived in masses to celebrated the work of a man who had given voice to the voiceless. 150 years later in a tirade by David Denby for The New Yorker titled: "There is Still Hope for People who Love Les Miserables." Denby deplores the sense of victimization that he argues is at the center of the story. It is Denby, however, not Hugo who is disconnected from the world today. For modern viewers, the victims of Hugo's novel: the oppressed and disenfranchised are all too familiar. Furthermore, Hugo's victims fight back. It is their heroism, despite adversity, that continues to inspire. To be clear: Hugo is neither anticapitalist nor a revolutionary. Rather, he had a vision of a humane and beneficient capitalism. Nonetheless, Les Miserables leaves behind a powerful legacy of the oppressed rising up to fight for what rightfully belongs to them. Writing to an Italian minister, Hugo gave voice to the universality of the themes and ideas expressed in Les Miserables: "You are right, sir, when you say that the book is written for all people. It speaks to England as much as Spain, to republics that have slaves as well as to empires that have serfs. Social problems know no borders. Wherever man is ignorant, wherever the child suffers for lack of a book to instruct him and a heart at which to warm him, the book Les Miserables knocks at the door and says: "Open to me, I come for you." Today as 150 years ago, such works are still necessary. What is it that has made Les Miserables such a timeless treasure? The novel is a show about courage, love, heartbreak, passion, and the resilience of the human spirit. Perhaps the most relevant themes, however, are related to the dignity of the human person. The affirmation of human dignity through compassion, empathy and mercy, ultimately evokes restoration. Each of our choices contributes to the formation of not only ourselves but of other people. We are constantly impacting those around us, positively or negatively, through our actions, conversations and lifestyles. So each of us has the ability to offer a kind of hope and encouragement and light and love to the world. Les Miserables also demonstrated that in giving ourselves to others, we begin to recognize our own worth. John Paul II once said: "Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of self." How true this rang for Jean Valjean in Les Miserables! In repeatedly risking his life, he becomes increasingly aware of his own dignity. Les Miserables contains several blatant of human dignity, which leave characters broken, rejected and alone. Javert dehumanizes Jean Vealjean by referring to him merely by his convict number, "24601." The students revolutionaries dehumanize themselves, telling each other that the state is worth more than their individual lives. Les Miserables is an example of how art can express human value and dignity and elevate the audience to a higher understanding of their own dignity. It is the story of the human spirit tested under terrible conditions and persevering in love, kindness, and self-worth.
No comments:
Post a Comment