The Victor Hugo novel Les Miserables is a classic example of this contrast of authenticity and fabrication. Jean Valjean and Javert represent these two realities in vivid and sometimes enigmatic detail. Valjean the former criminal becomes a respected official and someone people look up to and praise. Though he seems to living a lie, he is actually living an authentic existence and is one of the most powerful symbols of redemption of all of literature. Javert is the opposite. Consumed by zeal and hate, he lives for a world of law and justice unable to see that his reality is really a lie. His effort to live without grace and love shows how desperate his fabrication really is and it does unravel in the end.
Tremendous novel for anyone to read.
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First of all, Les Miserables is one of my favorite books of all time! =)
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I completely agree with the point you made concerning Valjean and Javert.
Makes me think of Pharisees and tax collectors...
JESUS told stories to give glimpses of His Kingdom...maybe Hugo, Williams, Lewis, and a few others were touching the fringes...