Because of its strong ethical overtones and themes, Victor Hugo naturally gravitates towards imagery of light and darkness in Les Miserables. Light and darkness symbolize their respective moral poles, the binaries of good and evil, beneficence and maleficence, right and wrong. Drawing attention to ethical polarities helps the reader to better understand and appreciate moral ambiguity. The protagonist Jean Valjean epitomizes moral ambiguity, as the reader follows his journey from sin to salvation. Ultimately, Hugo shows the reader how formal systems of justice and institutions of law and order cannot accurately determine moral polarities; the human heart is far too complex. Using imagery of light and darkness, Hugo shows that most of life manifests in various shades of grey.The Bishop is the first major symbol of light in Les Miserables, and is an overt representative of religious fortitude and spiritual salvation. “He gazed incessantly beyond this world through these fatal breaches, and beheld only darkness. The Bishop made him see light,” (Chapter 4). This line directly shows how Jean “beheld only darkness,” his experiences leading him to a morbid and depressed view of reality. The Bishop is the first person who shows Jean unconditional love and forgiveness—which are in short supply in Jean’s world. Therefore, the light of the Bishop is not just tied to religion or to God, and certainly not necessarily the institution of the...

Rather, the light of the Bishop is a universal moral light, a light of truth in human kindness and compassion.
Light also represents the truth, which is an important theme in Les Miserables. For example, Jean states, “You light your candles for me. Yet I have not concealed from you whence I come and that I am an unfortunate man,” (Chapter 3). Ignorance is commonly linked with proverbial darkness. When the light of truth shines, the consequences can be dire; people see the world for what it is, and other people for who they are. The light illuminates the truth, which a person can either bravely face or continue to hide or shroud in darkness.

Hugo also shows how light represents cognitive power and the ability to think clearly and rationally. “ The light of nature was ignited in him. Unhappiness, which also possesses a clearness of vision of its own, augmented the small amount of daylight which existed in this mind,” (Chapter 7). By this, Hugo implies that all human beings are capable of clear thinking and of strong critical thought, because it is the “light of nature.” Emotional despair and depression might be dark moods, but they do not necessarily cloud judgment. As the narrator puts it, “unhappiness...also possesses a clearness of vision of its own,” and Jean possesses a clarity of vision that precludes his dark demeanor.

Light and darkness live in balance within the human…