In Les Miserables, written by Victor Hugo, the author's introduction displays strong belief "So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine, with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age-the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night-are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless." Victor Hugo openly exhibits the corruption and evils of society will never be useless to us. Les Miserables tells a story of a corrupt society an its inability for good or evil to prevail. It teaches that an individual can overcome these miseries and live in peace with the corrupt world around him. The book is still useful to read today because it can teach us how we can be at peace with ourselves and live with the poverty of man, starvation of women, and dwarfing of childhood. .
Today we still deal with issues like poverty. Poverty affects many people across the world including Americans. According to a survey taken in the year 2000, 11.3 percent of Americans live in poverty. ("Poverty in the U.S.: 2000") Although this is much better than life in France before and during the French Revolution it is still a significant amount of people with not enough clothes, food, or money to have a good life. One of Victor Hugo's main reasons for writing Les Miserables was to help people recognize that not everyone is as well off as they could be. Hugo showed the world that one man could make a difference. Jean Valjean, the main character in Les Miserables had huge impacts on everyone he came in contact with.
