I will preface this blog by apologizing to all those reading this who could care less about literature and the effect it has on my life. I, for one, find reading inspirational and life changing, for those of you who would rather just see the movie or read the Cliff Notes...well I'm sorry.
"Life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment, poverty, are the fields of battle which have their heroes; obscure heroes, who are, sometimes, grander than the heroes who win renown". This beautifully worded sentence, in my humble opinion, sums up the masterpiece of Les Miserables (or at least all of it that I have read so far). Every character in the book (the movie is slightly deceiving) deals with every one of the obstacles in this sentence. I find myself relating greatly to the character of Marius Pontmercy (the Marius from the book, not so much the movie). I am reading about him right now and I have found these similarities: he is passionate about what he believes, loyal to his friends, and he loves deeper and differently than what is culturally acceptable. I like comparing myself to characters in a book because, A. it helps me stay focused on the reading and, B. it makes me feel that I am not spending so much time reading for nothing. Before I go into how Marius and myself are alike, I will try to explain the excerpt from the book and how it fits Marius and indirectly...me.
Life. Misfortune. Isolation. Abandonment. Poverty. If you will let yourself admit it, you have probably experienced one or all of these things. The "heroes" of these battlefields are the little but humongous (for lack of a better word) lessons that they teach us and the people that they turn us in to. The heroes that "stand the test of time" and make it into all the books are good, don't get me wrong, but they are not GRAND. The people who experience the above terms and come out better people turn into heroes. Wisdom. Wisdom is the difference between "obscure, grand heroes" and "heroes who win renown". Marius, who was born into renown, wealth, and power, gave it all up because of a passion he had. He became a hero because of the fight he had to fight.
Marius is passionate about what he believes in. Marius leaves everything that was comfortable with to become a part of the French Revolution. It was what he truly believed was right. He gave it his all and made it his world. He didn't always have support, and he didn't always have society on his side, but yet he still gave it his all. I find myself experiencing this same kind of passion. I have a passion for missions and a passion for Honduras. So I cannot lie and say that it will not forever be a huge part of my life because I want to give it my all.
Marius is loyal to his friends. When he leaves his family, Marius has nothing. He has been raised in bitterness so it is hard at first for him to open himself up to people. When he finds a group of young men who share his passion for the revolution he becomes very loyal. He doesn't become very close to many people, but when he is finally able to open himself up, he won't leave their side. I too, share his struggle with opening up to just anyone. It is a struggle for me to be "raw" with people, but once I find those friends, I will do whatever it takes to always be there for them.
Marius loves deeper and differently than what is culturally acceptable. Marius was pretty well known throughout his group of friends as the one who would never fall in love. He was focused and he knew what he wanted. When he saw Cosette in the park (ignore the part of this that sounds a bit stalker-ish and just go with it), he knew. His passion and his loyalty played a part in his experiencing love. I find myself relating to him in this way. Culture is not always willing to accept those people who know what they want and don't want to experiment much. This kind of love does not necessarily have to be romantic love. The love I have for people is such a deep love that comes from love of my God. I don't always do the right things or make the right decisions, but all of the decisions I make come from love and come from my yearning to follow God.
All of these things, I pray will help make me a hero to someone. I want to live a life that people see as inspirational. I apologize to the people so close to my heart whom I have let down and disappointed. Just know that I am still going through "life, misfortune, isolation, abandonment and poverty" and I haven't left the battlefield, I am still learning.
I will probably write a few more blogs about my experience reading Les Mis. This book is literally packed full of fascinating ideas and true life that is so easy to relate too. So, if you have the patience to read through 980 pages of intense literature, please do! I have learned so much reading this book. Ok, that's it for now!
