HP and Les Miserables

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 55926

Okay, so I was recently skimming my ratty old copy of Les 
Miserables, and I kept noticing similarities with HP.  Not in 
a "Hey, JKR is ripping off Hugo" sort of way, but in the "Hmm, check 
out the common themes and archetypes" sort of way.  

Consider, if you will, the story of Cosette.  She is an orphan 
(well, technically, her father's alive, but he abandoned her mother 
and doesn't even know Cosette exists, so he doesn't count).  She's 
being brought up by the horrible Thenardiers, who abuse her and make 
her do all the scut work in their home, while lavishing affection 
and material gifts on their own daughters.  They also lie about her 
origin, telling everyone that Cosette is a charity case they took in 
out of the goodness of their hearts, so that other people will think 
well of them.  Sounds an awful lot like Harry, doesn't it?  

One day Jean Valjean shows up.  He's big, scary-looking and 
inhumanly strong, but he's also gentle and kind, and Cosette 
instinctively trusts him.  He has a letter authorizing him to take 
Cosette away from the Thenardiers.  They don't want to let her go, 
but there's nothing they can do about it, and Valjean takes her away 
to a new life where she'll be happy and loved.  Sounds a lot like 
Hagrid coming to the rescue, right?

After that, Hugo and JKR go off in totally different directions, but 
it was enough to get me going, so I started thinking about the 
Hagrid/Valjean parallels.  Hagrid is not an ex-con, but he *was* 
blamed for a crime, and would've probably ended up as much a social 
outcast as Valjean if Dumbledore hadn't come to his rescue.  So I 
guess this casts Dumbledore as the Bishop of Digne, which is funny, 
because I had long thought of Dumbledore as playing the Bishop's 
role, but for Snape rather than for Hagrid.  And then it occured to 
me that there are three characters in the Potterverse -- Hagrid, 
Snape and Sirius -- who, when taken together, cover all the aspects 
of Jean Valjean's character.  Here's my Valjean checklist:

1. He's big, rough and scary-looking, but kind on the inside. 
(Hagrid)
2. He's an unjustly hunted fugitive. (Sirius)
3. He once started to fall into evil, but was turned to good by the 
trust and generosity of the Bishop of Digne. (Snape)
4. Considers himself partially responsible for the death of 
Cosette's mother, Fantine, even thought he didn't kill her himself. 
(Sirius, and possibly Snape)
5. Becomes a replacement parent for Cosette, fulfilling a promise he 
made to Fantine before she died. (Sirius)

And, of course, all three men are social outcasts and all three were 
saved, in various ways, by Dumbledore.  The Bishop of Digne is 
described as having saved Valjean's soul; Dumbledore does this for 
Snape in the metaphorical sense and for Sirius in the perfectly 
literal sense.

And speaking of sense, am I actually making any, or am I totally out 
in left field here?

Marina Rusalka
rusalka at ix.netcom.com