Fantine vs. Javert

This post is dedicated to Spiritual Twist Productions, and the amazing cast and crew of the 2014 "Les Misérables: A Story of Grace"

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I am Javert.

Let me explain. :)

This past weekend, I had the incredible blessing of getting to perform in Spiritual Twist Production's beautiful musical adaptation of "Les Misérables". Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, "Les Misérables: A Story of Grace" tells the story of a ex-convict named Jean Valjean following the drama of the French Revolution (1815-1832), and very clearly shows the contrast between the Law and Grace.

So first, let me give a little background on the story and characters. For those of you who saw the play (or were in it), feel free to skim through the next few paragraphs.

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To make a long story short, Valjean finds the grace of God, and it completely transforms his life. He goes from a hard, miserable ex-con who spent nineteen years in prison, to a respected mayor and business man whose kindness and generosity is known to all.

Enter Javert.

Inspector Javert is the antagonist of the story - he was originally a prison warden when Valjean was released, and ever since Valjean broke his parole and disappeared, Javert has been searching for him. This hardened inspector represents someone completely committed to the Law:

"THE LAW IS MY RELIGION, THOUGH I SERVE IT FOR THE LORD.
HE DEMANDS THAT WE OBEY IT, AND IT MUST NOT BE IGNORED."

Javert does not believe in repentance or reform but that - "Man is inherently good or bad, and - like a leopard - does not change his spots. It is the law which has the power to damn him for his sins. I promise you, I would arrest my own father or mother for the slightest breach of law and would feel extremely satisfied in the integrity of such a day's work."

Enter Fantine. (and this is actually the role I got to play!)

Fantine is a young woman in her mid 20's who works at Valjean's bead factory (although he goes by Mayor Pierre Madeliene). Fantine has had a very troubled past, including having a daughter (Cosette) out of wedlock - a fact which she carefully keeps hidden while working at the factory. However, after contracting tuberculosis, she becomes more careless, and it gets out that she has a daughter. The long and short of it is, Fantine is fired without the Mayor's knowledge.

After being turned out onto the streets, she is accosted by a cruel factory worker, and subsequently attacks him...right as Javert is walking her way. Fantine is almost sent to prison for six months, but Valjean was also watching the events, and rescues her from Javert.

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There is so much more to this story and to both these characters, but for time's sake, I won't go into it all (you can pre-order the DVD for this production at AlwaysTrueDesigns.com).

When it comes down to it, I realized that Javert and Fantine are actually very similar.

Both of them are rescued by Valjean (spoilers!), both are living in sin (guilt vs. self-righteousness), and both reach a point of brokenness in their lives where they see their lack and their need. But...only one of them accepts the grace offered them.

Fantine.

The Bishop leads Valjean to freedom with a
simple act of mercy

At first, she can't see how God could possibly love her or even want anything to do with her after all the sin she has committed in the past. But Valjean helps her see the light - that NONE of us deserve God's grace, and that He offers His grace freely to set us free from darkness and guilt. That you can't earn it - you just have to accept.

It reminds me of this verse - "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36)

But Javert is so trapped in the way he has completely built his life around serving the Law, with the Law being the only thing that can set him right, that when he is face-to-face with the truth, he cannot accept it, and is lost.

The contrast between these two characters reminds me of the parable Jesus told in Luke 18:9-14 about the Pharisee and the tax-collector:

"He [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 'Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get." But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.'"

So, back to my original statement. I am Javert.

When asked the question, "Do I need to be righteous in my actions to earn God's grace?", most of us as Christians would immediately say - "No, of course not!"

But a lot of the time, in my heart of hearts, I tend to set my own standard for righteousness and find satisfaction when I feel like I'm meeting it, which in reality, I don't even meet my own standards, much less God's!! This is Javert's attitude.

One line that always struck a chord with me is when Valjean calls Javert out on his pride:

"You've placed a high value on your own life by making sure that everyone else falls much lower on the moral scale. By judging everyone else, you affirm yourself...you also hold court in the privacy of your own mind, judge and jury, trying and convicting everyone you come in contact with. You don't know how to show mercy or compassion, because you haven't accepted it for yourself."

More often than not, that's me - struggling with the realization that I am no better than the people I so often turn up my nose towards, judging with my own standard to make myself feel better instead of comparing myself to God's standards.

The problem is that I think I understand God's holiness adequately, and I think I can do what I understand - but I'm wrong on both accounts, especially if I think that I can earn salvation and grace. Javert did not have LOVE! Though he was "serving the Lord", he totally missed the whole point of 1 Corinthians 13!

But...by God's incredible grace, which is slowly but surely refining me each day, I am also Fantine.

Like Fantine, there was a very dark time in my life when I came to the point of utter brokenness, and for a time, could not accept that God could love me for who I was. But once I came to that point where I realized I could not earn it by myself, that I needed Him to work a miraculous change in my life, and gave myself completely over to Him - then came freedom like I've never experienced before!

As you can imagine, this helped me pour a lot of genuine feeling into the character of Fantine, and on the last performance, I actually cried after singing Fantine's song about "laughing and dancing in His presence" because I could not contain the joy of being the recipient of such grace!! And in that moment, it wasn't Fantine singing that song. It was Ellie. :)

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I am SO blessed to have been involved in this amazing production, with an amazing cast and crew who continually pointed me back to Christ! I love you all sooooo much!

Ellie Faggion