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What Is The Significance Of The June Rebellion

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Nearly 800 people were injured or died in the June Rebellion of 1832. (Haven) Although Les Miserables by Victor Hugo is fiction, it is important to remember that the events outlining this book are history. There really was a barricade, and people really did die. The question we need to ask ourselves is: did their deaths matter? Both the fictional and historical people in the June Rebellion fought a noble fight. The people of the barricade in Les Miserables had good reason to lose their lives. The rebels in the barricade were able to give immense hope to the people of Paris because they were willing to take a stand. The movie exemplifies this throughout the ending scene. All the characters are together walking through the streets and singing …show more content…

Carolyn McDowall described it as, “it wooed a whole new generation of American people to its powerful message of love, liberty, fraternity, hope and freedom.” (McDowall) People who read and watched Les Miserables were felt uplifted by the barricade scene because of the hope that comes with people giving up their lives for what they believe in. In this same way, the people of Paris that witnessed the fight in the barricade experienced the Insurgents inspiration. Parisians lived in awful conditions in the 1830s. Even though they were not willing to join in the fight, they felt inspired just to know that someone else was fighting for a better …show more content…

Throughout the whole novel, there is an abundance of light references used to describe the republic and what they were fighting for. The flag of the republic was pictured as, “Nothing could be seen but the red flag, fearfully lighted up, as if by an enormous dark lantern” (Hugo, 275) Nothing else received Hugo’s praise as much as the symbol of the republic’s fight. The flag received the same symbolism that the bishop did when Jean Valjean decided not to kill him in his sleep. Another example of Hugo’s light references is when he wrote about Marius’s fight. “The torch in his hand, his stern face lighted by a deadly resolution, bending the flame of the torch towards that formidable pile in which they discerned the broken barrel of powder, and uttering that terrific cry.” (Hugo, 285) Marius’s face was filled with purpose to fight for a better

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