Chapter 7: ...Or the Bible

Biblical allusions and parallels are extremely common in the world of literature. The Bible is perhaps the most often used text referenced to create deeper meaning or to provide a similar situation to consult when reading. For example, while reading Les Misêrables I could not help but notice certain qualities in Jean Valjean that were reminiscent of your average redeemed sinner and even Jesus himself.

Jean Valjean is the classic redeemed sinner: he has a history of theft, deceit, violence. But Valjean, after an encounter with a person of faith, he vows to honor that man and follow the path of righteousness. He becomes merciful and loving, and tries to live a life of goodness to glorify his God. Valjean is the bad boy gone good.

Jesus is, to the world of Christianity at least, the savior of the world, of sinners everywhere. He bore the sins of all to allow everyone a shot at Heaven. While not so grandiose an action, Valjean also is a savior. Not to the world, but to a little girl, Cosette, whose mother is dead and who has no family to care for her. Jean Valjean rescues her from a horrible life and shows her love, and is indeed a savior in her dim world.

Like Jesus, Valjean has his self-proclaimed enemies. While Jesus dealt with countless persecutors who mocked him, did not believe in his divine origin, and eventually crucified him, Valjean had an inspector constantly on his tail, trying desperately to convict him once more. Javert shows no mercy to Valjean, chasing him for years and attempting to thwart his retrieval of young Cosette. In Javert's eyes, there is nothing more important than the recapture of ex-convict Jean Valjean, prisoner 24601. He does not understand mercy or grace, does not care of the fate of Cosette if she has no life with Valjean, and does not attempt to understand the possible consequences of his manhunt.

But despite the awful tension between Javert and Valjean, Valjean still manages to extend forgiveness to his pursuer. In a truly "forgive they know not what they do" situation, Valjean forgives Javert for all the grief he has caused in Valjean's life, and then Valjean actually passes on the opportunity to kill Javert and instead sets him free. Furthermore, just as Jesus willingly gave himself to die, waited in the garden of Gethsemane for his captors and betrayer, Valjean informed Javert as to where he would be after the battle at the barricades. Javert received all the information from the willing ex-convict to finally capture Valjean and throw him back into prison.

But the similarities between the two texts do not stop at Valjean and Jesus. Judas, Jesus's betrayer, feels horrific guilt after he realizes the monstrosity of his action. Unable to cope with the guilt and ask for forgiveness, he resorts to a desperate measure: suicide. Javert, similarly, feels guilty about arresting Valjean after being spared from death by the same man. He knows that he cannot capture the ex-convict and not feel awful, so he leaves Valjean at his house with the intention to never chase after him again. However, Javert's highest duty is to the law. He cannot cope with arresting Valjean, yet he cannot cope with not arresting Valjean either, for if he neglects to do so, he will be compromising his vow to obey and enforce all law. Javert, like Judas, sees no escape from his dilemma, and throws himself from a bridge into the Seine.

After seeing the similarities between the Bible and Les Misêrables, I was able to see that the novel is not only a story of an ex-prisoner gone good, a miserable man turned happy by his new devotion to God. The story, as it turns out, is a modern redemption story, the tale of a man who is forgiven and takes on the qualities of Jesus, acting as savior, friend, and even redeemer himself. Valjean indeed attempts to "be perfect as [his] heavenly father is perfect."

Chapter 5: Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the "ongoing interaction between poems or stories." Intertextuality most often deepens one's reading, and adds more meaning to a specific text. Intertextuality can include a reference to another text, an allusion, a similiarity that gives more meaning, or a parallel to another work.

In Sarah Dessen's book The Truth About Forever, the narrator Macy briefly discusses a book she is studying in her English class, a play by William Shakespeare. Since a huge theme of the book is death, and the effects that it has on people, it is no surprise that the play is one of Shakespeare's tragedies, Macbeth, in which death and murder is a central idea.
In this play, there is much conspiracy, from plots of regicide to plans of flouting heirs their right to the throne. While on a much milder level, there is also conspiracy, though maybe not immediately recognized, in Dessen's book: a mother's forceful plan to guide her daughter in the way she sees fit, co-workers plots to make Macy's life miserable, even friends' plans to improve her way of living and find her an "extraordinary boy."

Macbeth's wife Lady Macbeth is very influential to her husband. She has enough persuasion prowess to convince him to kill his king. Acting on Macbeth's ambition to become king himself, the Lady's skills give her the power to convince him to how to live, to often control his actions. Like Macbeth, Macy is in a relationship in which her partner has the power to influence, and even often control, her lifestyle. Jason, while maybe not knowing what he is doing, constantly uses Macy's struggle for perfection to get her to do what he wants: join Student Council, do yoga, take over his job at the library for the summer, anything that will help her, in his eyes, reach, or at least glimpse, "perfection."

The struggle in Macbeth culminates in battle, and while no physical confrontation is initiated in Dessen's work, Macy and her mother Deborah do eventually "battle out" their different ideas for Macy's future and the way she should live. So while they don't actually fight to the death, Macy confronts her mother to gain control of her own life and to bring forth issues the two have had with each other since the death of Macy's father.

Though probably not often seen, there are parallels between these two texts that scream intertextuality. After seeing them myself, I was awed at the discreet, and possibly unintentional, parallels between them. This book just goes to show that a novel is never completely original, that there will always be parallels, plot steals, allusions, or theme similarities to another work in nearly every text, whether intended or just by happenstance.

Chapter 1: 5 Aspects of a Quest

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster recognizes that nearly every trip in literature is, in fact, a quest. There are five aspects to a quest: "(1) a quester, (b) a place to go, (3) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (e) a real reason to go there." These five things can be applied to most journeys in literature and film. For example, the novel and movie The Wizard of Oz is the perfect example of a quest.

Quester: Dorothy
Place to go: Emerald City
Reason to go: To find a way home
Challenges: The Wicked of the West, the flying monkeys, the enchanted trees, etc.
Real reason to go: To learn what she really wants with her life and that she will always be able to return to her home with Auntie Em and Uncle Henry