Post 1: Les Mis

The importance of communication ethics in the first section of Les Mis is evident in nearly every scene. The most obvious case is that of Jean Valjean, the main protagonist who has made the difficult choice of escaping his parole, which breaks the law and moral code, but devotes his life to being a good leader and helping others when he can. One must decide if this is morally acceptable because the punishment for his crime may seem like overkill and he has turned over a new leaf, or if the most important thing is the fact that he is a criminal and is ultimately breaking the law. He is also about to face a decision between freeing an innocent man by incriminating himself, or condemning him to a life of imprisonment and going free himself.

This is not only an issue for Valjean, but also for Inspector Javert. Javert has never forgotten Valjean and realizes who he is, but he is now his superior and ultimately breaks his own moral and authoritative code to investigate. It does not seem to matter to him that the man he thinks is Valjean seems to be a decent person who puts others before himself. Valjert is more concerned with the fact that he feels he has been fooled or wronged and he wants revenge. He seems to put the law and his own work above any other type of moral code or conscious.

And finally in this section there is the case of Fantine. Fantine is a woman who works hard to support her daughter but it never seems to be enough. She does not yet know she is being fooled by those who care for her daughter and so she tries to hide her situation to provide for her. She ultimately (and unfairly) loses her job and must make the difficult decision to break her own moral and ethical code and briefly becomes a prostitute in order to send the money Cosette needs. This is a traumatic experience and decision for her, but she feels that her daughter's health and well being is most important, even though it ultimately puts her life in danger.