One thing I learned from watching the movie was that our lives are completely different than the lives that the revolutionaries lived during the revolution. They would work all day for nothing and be pushed around by the privileged. Our lives have so much privilege that Jean Valjean could never dream of. Another thing I learned was that the poverty back in the day was so much more severe that it is in the present day. You were either poor or were quite wealthy and privileged. It also seems as though there was much more poverty back in the day, more people were poor than there are now. I think this is because when you were poor in the 1700s and 1800s it was almost impossible to build your life back up again. Now people are much more forgiving and not as straight minded such as Javert who views truth and respect as following the law and the law only. The law doesn't outline who your are and who you will be these years, only yourself can decide that.
The scenes that stood out most were when Valjean was asking God and praying to let Marius live. This shows that Valjean loves Cosette and he would do anything to make her happy. Valjean knows that Marius would make Cosette happy because she has been raised in isolation her whole life. She doesnt know how to make friends never mind love someone but Valjean knew he could trust Marius with Cosette. Valjean is willing to risk his life and who he is to make her world a little bit better. Another scene that stood out to me was when Fantine asked Valjean to take care of Cosette. She did this because she knew that she had done all she could to save Cosette but now she knows she can't do anything anymore, she knew she was going to die so she trusted the mayor of her town to take care of her daughter. This shows importance to Valjean because he has so many people who trust him.
Three motifs I learned were having someone you can trust is important in your life because when there comes point when you can no longer do something you might need someone to do it for you. So trust in a relationship is key. This reoccurred multiple times when Fantine couldnt take care of Cosette anymore she trusted Valjean to look after her and when Valjean couldnt take care of Cossette he trusted Marius to make her happy again. Another motif is even though it seems something is is impossible you must never give up. During the revolution it was a few young men against hundreds. The revolutionaries knew they were gonna lose but they did it out of pride like Valjean did everything he could to keep Mariusand Cosette alive. Lastly I learned that the dignity that people had back in the day was so much stronger than what we see in our time. People would fight to die for their beliefs, the poor would never give up and Javert had so much pride in his job that when he could no longer do it well he killed himself because his job was his pride and dignity.
I like how you used trust as a motif in your analysis. I hadn't thought of trust being a big theme/motif, but now I can see it underlying scenes and moments. It is true that Fantine trusted Val-Jean, and that is whey she died in peace. You can see that there is trust between Cosette and Val-Jean because Val-Jean treates her fairly, and Marius trust in Eponine to bring the letters he wrote to Cosette. I like how you chose a less prominent motif, unlike the obvious sacrifice or love. Though it's subtle, it's definitely there. Neat motif, well done.
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