A few years ago I read the big unabridged 1000 page version of Les Miserables. Probably the 4th time I read it. I am a big Victor Hugo fan. The problem is though most everyone remembers the beginning and middle, they forget the end.
Jean Valjean steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving sister and her children. Spends 20 years rowing on a prison ship, has a religious epiphany to forever do good deeds, and spends the rest of his life on the run from the consumed law and order / by the book Inspector Javert. An easy metaphor to the politics of left and right, or as we see here in American, Democrat and Republican. Or with a bit of a stretch, My Country Right or Wrong.
What is mostly forgotten is that at the end of this work of FICTION, Javert realizes he has been wrong about his politics and job his entire life, that he squandered it on absolute law and order vengeance and is left with no option but to jump from a bridge into the Seine as Jean Valjean walks into the lovely sunset.
Hey Todd Akin, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, Paul Ryan, Donald Trumph etc… The Tampa / St Pete toll bridge is one hell of a drop! Anyone need a ride?
BTW, the best movie rendition of the evil Javert is the first one, Charles Laughton with that prison buzz haircut. The newest version has Russell Crowe playing the part. Seems a good match.
