Life Commitment As the author Mitch Albom once said, “Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else”. This same idea exists in the novel, Les Miserables. Hugo explains how characters sacrifice their life so that others can live better and be happy. When the main character Jean Valjean receives a second chance in life, he learns the importance of love and how sacrificing your life for another person is worth it. While Fantine the mother of Cosette is willing to give everything for her daughter, even if it means to sell herself and to give up her dignity for her daughter she will do it. Victor Hugo illustrates Jean Valjean’s and Fantine’s sacrifices throughout the novel to show that giving up a necessity for another person shows how much a person can care for another person. Fantine demonstrates the risks and the sacrifices that she does for Cosette to have a better life for her. When Fantine is fired by the “mayor”, she has to sell everything and learn how to survive without essential needs. She has to find ways to make money to send to Cosette so that she could live “good.” As Fantine accommodates to her new lifestyle she, “…Learned how to do entirely without a fire in the winter” (Hugo 53). When Fantine had to return all of the furniture, her neighbor taught her how to live without a fire in the winter and how to make a candle last for many nights. So that she has enough money to send to her daughter for her to “eat.” Even though she never received the money, Fantine still manages to sacrifice for her. Fantine has sold everything and is willing to live without a home for her daughter. Another occasion when Fantine has to sacrifice is when the Thenardiers’ asked for money because Cosette is “sick.” She didn’t know how she was going to get the money, but she was going to get it no matter what. This is shown when the traveling dentist said, “You have pretty teeth, you girl who are laughing there. If you sell me your two incisors, I will give you a gold napoleon for each of them” (Hugo 56). Fantine is willing to accept the pain so that her daughter won’t be “sick.” She gives away her only beauty that she has left for the only person that she loves. Fantine has already sold her hair and it does not matter if she has to sell her teeth for her daughter. In the end Fantine does find a way to send money for Cosette’s “sickness”. These are two of many examples of Fantine’s sacrifices that she does for Cosette, the only thing that really is hers. JVJ is another character that demonstrates sacrifice for a loved one to prove that a person is more important than their life. When JVJ goes to the convent to hide from Javert, he knows that sooner or later he will have leave. One day when JVJ
