The influence of conflict to Jean Valjean’s character development in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables

As long as we live in the world, we are not able to avoid conflict although we never invite it. A conflict comes to us unconsciously and usually we do not realize that our attitude causes a conflict. Conflict is a contradiction between two persons, each of which has his own idea of principle.

A well-developed character is one that has been thoroughly characterized, with many traits shown in the narrative. The better the audience knows the character, the better the character development. Thorough characterization makes characters well-rounded and complex. This allows for a sense of realism. Character development is very important in character-driven literature, where stories focus not on events, but on individual personalities

This study is aimed at answering the following three research problem and gain better understanding on the content of the novel. The first is what the original character of Jean Valjean is. The second is what are Jean Valjean’s conflicts, and the last is how does the conflict influence Jean Valjean’s character. The objective of the study are based on three items. First of all to identify the original character of Jean Valjean. The second is to explain Jean Valjean’s conflicts. And the third is to describe how conflict influences Jean Valjean’s character

This research is classified into literary criticism because the writer examines deeply about everything which has connection to the novel. In order to reach the goal, she uses structural approach. Structural approach is an approach that is used to analyze a literary work by interpreting and focusing on the text alone, apart from the author and reader. With structural approach, the researcher analyzes The Influence of Conflict to Jean Valjean’s Character Development in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.

The result of this study shows that the original character of Jean Valjean is kind, a hard worker and responsible man. Three kind of Jean Valjean’s conflict is Psychological, social and physical conflict. Social conflict, for example: after spending nineteen years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, Jean Valjean is at last a free man.. Entering the small town of Digne, he looks for food and shelter for the night, but without success. He is rejected and insulted by everyone he meets. Physical conflict for example: when Jean Valjean in prison, he feels suffering. He is imprisoned for 5 years in the Toulon galleys and ultimately serves nineteen years, because he receives three additional years for each of four escape attempts, and two more for resisting arrest following the second attempt. Psychological conflict for example: When he had imprisoned, he feels that the society is unfair. He is angry and bitter at the cruel injustice of life. And he will take revenge when he released from the prison. All of the conflict that happen to Jean Valjean apparently changes Jean’s character for the first time he is kind, a hard worker and responsible man. Become a person who bears a grudge, desperate and grows to the bad side. In the end of the novel Jean Valjean realize it and grows to the good side.