The Thenardiers In Today's Society

Drastic times call for drastic measures. This saying is referring to when you are going through tough times, you’ll have to take actions you wouldn’t normally do. Many people during the times “Les Miserables” takes place were poor and lived in terrible conditions. The Thenardiers were just one example of these people. It was hard for them to survive during these terrible times, so it makes sense that they would have to go to drastic measures. The Thenardiers shouldn’t be looked down on so much because their only option was to turn to corruption and life was very difficult during these times. The Thenardiers path to corruption was similar to many others during this time period. They started out doing alright but still struggled some to get
“Despair is surrounded by fragile walls, which all open into vice or crime”. They were desperate and were willing to do anything in order to survive. Blaming the Thenardiers for going to desperate measures for a chance at survival isn’t very fair. They should be able to do what they need to do to stay alive. Their actions may not be good, but it is definitely understandable why they turned to those ways. “For I had come to hate the world, this world that always hated me”. Along with the Thenardiers, there are people in today’s world who feel like the world is against them. They’ve had bad and unfortunate lives with not much good going for them. There are people out there who turn to gangs and violence because their only option is to work an extremely low paying job, which they know they’re unable to live off of. Just like with the Thenardiers, it isn’t right, but it was their best chance at
The French Revolution was a very tough and many people lived in horrible conditions. Diseases spread rapidly, food was scarce, and the poor were being taken advantage of by the wealthy. Peasants were singled out by the tax system and payed much more compared to those who were better off. “The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness”. The Thenardiers aren’t at fault for what was going in France during this time period. It was basically impossible for peasants to get ahead since all of their money was going toward their landlords, the church, and the government. Inflation was also a huge problem during this time, so it was hard for the lower class to buy the goods they needed with the little money they were able to earn. With all the odds against them, it makes sense for the Thenardiers to turn to corruption. They know by living an honest life they won’t get anywhere, and they want to get more out of life. Because of this, corruption was the only option for the Thenardiers to get where they wanted to