In the above image,
Marius is running from the law in his own way; as an innocent man in
the wrong place at the wrong time. The building he lives in is deserted
except for the landlady and the dubious Jondrette family, for whom Marius
feels pity at first, but later disgust. Intrigued by nothing more than
a hole in the wall and some letters dropped on the sidewalk, Marius
discovers a plot at hand that the Jondrettes are planning.
Marius informs the police
of this ambush in the hopes that harm will be averted and justice served,and
Javert asks him to act as lookout and
signal-man for the moment of arrest. However, nothing goes as planned,
and the police only half-succeed when they come in of their own accord
for a bungled bust. Marius is suspected of purposely delaying the signal,
and he could conceivably be in danger of arrest and conviction (ala
Joseph Lesurques).
Honest people of lower classes
often rubbed elbows with criminals; and in addition to this physical
sharing of space, the lower classes also shared an image in public life.
Many bourgeoisie perceived the lower classes as dangerous, every workman
was possibly a robber or thug. They also lived in the sort of conditions
that drove many criminals to their path, in a constant state of unfilled
needs.
• On the one hand,
the lower classes were given an additional disadvantage in society
because of this association with the criminal world. However, many
people "reclaimed" sensational criminals as popular heroes,
making martyrs and Robin Hoods of many.
• On the other hand,
the upper classes could learn from characters in Les Miserables
to discard their prejudices against the lower classes. But even
Hugo leaves many of the typical criminal/poor person associations
in place (such as Marius' pity for the Jondrettes even when he knows
they are scoundrels) that the bourgeoisie would be familiar with.
