Why does Javert make Jean Valjean get the flag before releasing him?
Before Javert releases Jean Valjean on parole in the 2012 movie version of Les Miserables, he makes him recover the flag from the ship... which Jean does by picking up the entire mast and dragging the flag with it.
Why does he have Jean get the flag before releasing him?
Best Answer
The men working didn't have any reason to take the flag or the mast as part of their assigned duties, and as prisoners cared little enough they didn't avoid trodding over it.
Javert however as one in power cares deeply for the institutions of the republic. Not only the law, but also representations of it such as the flag. His request is not really a specific duty that he is trying to submit Valjean to, but a simple request that the flag should not be left in the muck. In his mind a minor, but necessary thing that should be done before releasing the prisoners from their duty.
Later in the novel (but not in the play/movie), Valjean has further tasks on a ship where his raw physical strength is described.
So I interpret the scene as both a way to show Valjean's physical strength, and to show that he is not willing to submit to the demands of the law over his desires/needs, even if it is the easier way. Stay put in jail for five years? No, 19 because I kept trying to escape! Javert has one more degrading thing for me to do? He wants the flag? Fine! I'll bring him the whole stupid mast!
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Why does Javert let Valjean go?
Javert kills himself because the mercy shown to him by Jean Valjean so disrupts his black and white world view that he cannot bear to live in a world he no longer understands.Why did Jean Valjean reveal his true identity?
That night, Valjean has a terrific struggle within himself, but finally decides to go to the trial and reveal his identity in order to free Champmathieu (for, if he gave himself up, who would care for Fantine or rescue Cosette?).Why was Jean Valjean imprisoned for so long?
Jean Valjean, after spending nineteen years in jail and in the galleys for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family (and for several attempts to escape) is finally released, but his past keeps haunting him. At Digne, he is repeatedly refused shelter for the night.Les Misérables. The Runaway Cart Scene Subtitled Full HD
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