[HPforGrownups] HP and Les Miserables

[Taryn Kimel]

No: HPFGUIDX 55935

Marina:
> 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.  

Richasi:
Actually, i found this quite stimulating. I'm not in the same camp
as many of the other folks here so I won't even begin to debate
this but I do see similarities between Les Mis and HP. Though,
the child-is-a-slave bit is nothing new really.

I have one question though, and it is Off-Topic somewhat.
Who in the HP universe is Javert? ;)

Me:
Oh, this is just fascinating... From a purely "who's the villain" standpoint, Voldemort would be. And the more I think about it, he /does/ have certain similarities with Javert. He's obsessive about his system of justice, in essence who should live and who shouldn't, despite being born from the very type of people he hates. I find Voldemort to be extremely fanatical, especially about his belief of superiority over muggles and muggle-born, despite his muggle heritage. And Javert's defining characteristic is his sense of justice and superiority over low-class criminals (even the ones who have done nothing more than broken a window and stolen some bread), though he was born from that same type of group.

--Taryn

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