Arts & Culture

Is Javert Really a Villain?

Disclaimer: The 2012 film “Les Miserables” is rated PG-13 due to suggestive material, violence, and thematic elements. 

A timeless classic with thirty-four different adaptations, Les Miserables remains one of the most beloved musicals in the theater world (IMDb). The large, multigenerational cast of characters is quite nuanced with respect to a traditional group of heroes, villains, sidekicks, double agents, and the inevitable wise mentor figure. The main antagonist is Inspector Javert, an upper class French police officer who has a slightly concerning obsession with the law, a habit of constantly reminding people to “not forget his name,” and a cool hat. Like almost all the characters, Javert does not have a completely straight moral compass. He is cruel and bigoted, but his persona is much more complex than that. He may be the main antagonist, but does that automatically make him a “bad guy?”

Within the first ten minutes of the show, Javert is immediately presented as a very unlikeable character. He was raised by gypsies, whose lives aren’t all that different from the criminals he catches as his job. This concept causes him much internal conflict; therefore, as he explains to Valjean, “I’ve tried to live my life without breaking a single rule.” He dedicates his entire self to upholding and enforcing the law, believing that it alone will make up for his “betrayal.” The problem is that he never stops to consider whether the law is morally right or wrong (and in many cases, it is in fact wrong). Fans tend to define his character through his lack of empathy for any kind of offender, but the issue is more complicated than simply “he’s the villain, so he’s mean to the hero.” To truly understand a character – especially an antagonist – it’s necessary to observe the motive behind their actions, which in Javert’s case, is shame and guilt. 

Another key aspect of Javert is that his character is morally gray, while his personal view of life is completely black and white (Sy). In other words, all Javert’s flaws are rooted in his “golden rule” by which he lives his life: that a man is guilty when the law declares him so. As previously stated, Javert does not appear to use any critical thinking skills regarding the justice of the law itself but accepts it passively. It’s all black and white to him: either a man deserves punishment, or he doesn’t. This concept is what ultimately leads to his downfall. After decades of Javert relentlessly pursuing Valjean, the latter proves to him that a person isn’t necessarily evil just because the law says he is. Valjean manages this by exhibiting the power of forgiveness: after the revolutionaries overpower Javert, Valjean spares his life and lets him go free. It would have made Valjean’s life approximately 24,601 times easier to simply kill Javert and move on with his newfound life of peace. But he did the unimaginable and allowed the officer to walk away unscathed when he had every right to want him gone. This contradicted Javert’s basic belief system by challenging everything he thought about the “once a criminal, always a criminal” concept. It led him to question all his life choices and finally threw him into a crisis so deep he couldn’t live with himself anymore.

From a certain perspective, the way Javert sticks to his ideals and wholeheartedly lives out his beliefs is inspiring and even admirable. However, his situation is also an excellent example of how dangerous it can be to close our minds to new ideas and other viewpoints. Any positive quality can become negative in excessive quantities. So how can Javert be classified as far as classic character archetypes? It’s difficult to say exactly because his character is so nuanced, but Javert fits fairly well into a category that Mark Bedard of Studiobinder describes as an anti-villain. “An anti-villain is a character who has heroic personality traits or goals but is ultimately the bad guy in this story.” Essentially, it’s the opposite of an anti-hero, which is a protagonist that may have questionable morals and goals but who the audience roots for anyway (for example, Captain Jack Sparrow). Anti-villains, therefore, may have good intentions but flaws in their execution. In Javert’s case, he does his best to uphold the law, which is a good thing; his fault lies in a lack of judgment in acknowledging when the law is morally wrong.  

 

Works Cited

Bedard, Mark. “What is an Anti-Villain — Definition, Types and Examples.” Studiobinder, 10 April 2022, www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-an-anti-villain-definition/.

Sy, Alyanna. “A Character Analysis on Javert from Les Miserables.” 9 July 2021, alyannasy-javert-analysis.netlify.app/.

IMDb. “SPECIAL LIST – Les Miserables.” IMDb, 15 Dec. 2012, www.imdb.com/list/ls055080057/.

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