Authority and rule-breaking

[catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 16271

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., lea.macleod at g... wrote:
> 
>  Amanda Lewanski <editor at t...> wrote:
> > > > > 
> > > Hmmm. Snape is Inspector Javert. I wonder if he will break, as 
> > Javert
> > > did. Any other Les Miserables fans out there want to explore the
> > > similarity?
> 
> Catherine wrote:
> 
> > Doesn't Inspector Javert commit suicide, partly because he 
realises 
> > that his behaviour and regard for crime and punishment has lead 
to 
> > obsession and miscarriage of justice (or at least not 
proportionate 
> > justice), and that ultimately his behaviour has been inhumane?
> 
> Javert commits suicide because he has failed, not because he 
realised 
> he was wrong. He found himself trapped between two impossible 
crimes: 
> To let a convicted criminal escape and to arrest him. This 
situation 
> didn´t fit anywhere in his view of the world, and he just couldn´t 
> cope with it. Javert´s death is not a redemption, it´s a 
resignation.
> 
> >This way of living could also be construed as a form of cowardice -
 
> > it is very easy not to have to think about things and live within 
> >the  confines of an ordered society with a defined set of rules - 
it 
> >takes  more guts to know when these are not apppropriate and to 
try 
> >and act accordingly.
> 
> Exactly. Javert didn´t manage.
> 
> Go get the book, Catherine, and read the chapter that ends with 
> Javert´s death (I only read the french version, so I don´t know the 
> English title, sorry). That chapter was a revelation to me, and I 
> think it may be to all people working in a legal profession. 
> 
> 
Yes, I do need to go back to it - I did say it was a number of years 
ago.  But I still stand by my comparative comments on black/white 
issues, ordered worlds etc.
(By the way, I don't know if you knew, but I'm training to be a 
lawyer at the moment!)
Catherine