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pilferingapples · 5 years

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I know that on the grand scale of things this ultimately matters little, but the fact that that BBC alignment chart put Javert – who is pretty much THE example of a Lawful Neutral character – in Lawful Evil pretty much says everything we need to know about how they view him. (I mean obviously there are other characters to argue about but this one struck me the most)

Unfortunately–while I suspect whoever did the BBC alignment chart was from some marketing/PR department and had only tangential understandings of the characters, even just the characters As Shown On TV….

I…agree…with that particular Alignment choice.

I didn’t always, and I still think Lawful Neutral is a reasonable analysis, but after a lot of thought and consideration, I’ve come to think Lawful Evil actually suits him better. And I’d appreciate if you’d look at the linked post before calling for my head on a plate, Nonny! :P

But to try and TL, DR it: you can’t swear allegiance to the One Ring and Its Maker–or its symbolic equivalent–and stay Neutral. Elaboration!

What’s Javert really supporting? it’s not the letter of the law; it’s not any concept of justice that cares for people’s rights or well being. He doesn’t even approve of compassion or kindness or concern for individual rights! He thinks they are irrelevant at best and often specifically counter to justice! What Javert supports, what he’s thrown his entire life into supporting, is Authority and the social order. That is , the system , and all its bigotry. He completely supports and follows those lines; heck, one of his core motivations for his life’s path is that he hates all the people he’s supposed to hate (including and especially people with his specific background).

What’s the Real Villain of Les Mis? The Big Bad?

Isn’t it the Social Order? The System, and all its attendant bigotries?

Now, to go with the D&D worldview– Epic Fantasy, with Evil and Good as real tangible forces–which is after all what the Alignment System is built for:

What’s a character who works for the Big Bad, loyally, voluntarily, because they agree with the Big Bad’s worldview?

I don’t think they can be classed as Good, or even Neutral. I think, in the context of the system, they get classed as Evil. The Villain’s Henchmen are still Evil, in a classic-mode Epic Fantasy setup– which is what D&D and its Alignment chart are set up for. The Ringwraiths aren’t neutral , you know?

(Not that Javert is ever on the level of being a Ringwraith. No way his Villain Organization Paygrade is that high. )

Now, the D&D cosmology both does and very much doesn’t work with the cosmology Hugo’s asserting for Les Mis. He definitely holds out for an Absolute Force of Good–call it Progress, the Ideal, or Providence, but at least in Les Mis it’s a major active player in the story; but his idea of Evil is very different, and the core concept of the New Era Hugo’s ushering in is in direct conflict with the Epic Fantasy mindset, though I should probably save that for another post).

But even in the more human-scale morality of Les Mis…Javert is awful. His allegiance to the cause of Social Order brings out all his worst tendencies and heightens them. He’s bigoted (remember that he arrests, convicts, and sentences Fantine without evidence, questioning, or even a charge from Bamatabois, because Bamatabois is rich and she is poor and thus she is inherently guilty in any altercation with him; classism is very much still a form of bigotry). He gives inaccurate testimony against Champmathieu, and while that is a truly honest mistake, his complete lack of concern about it doesn’t speak well about where his motives are. He spends decades noticing, and accepting as Just, the endless small cruelties against prisoners. And he is capable of real, needless cruelty himself, in the name of that order.

If I saw a cop in dying woman’s hospital room call her a whore and yell at her while she cried to know what was happening to her child, if I saw him watch her die without any concern, I wouldn’t think “well that seems neutral and in keeping with the limits of the law ” , and if I found out later he was on record saying that a rich man was above questioning because he was rich ?

I wouldn’t think “wow that sure was in accordance with the law, nothing else he could have done". I’d think that is some evil bullshit. And I wouldn’t change my mind because of his backstory, either. Kicking the pain downhill isn’t a Neutral act.

None of this is saying Javert doesn’t have any commendable or honorable qualities; or that he couldn’t , with time and work, have come to a new worldview and mode of behavior. He could! That’s the central tragedy of the character! And he is tragic; I’m not sure where people got this idea that “evil” or “villain” characters can only be Disney Evil, cackling and without any redemptive qualities.

So this leads us back to that TL, DR: a person can’t swear allegiance to the One Ring and Its Maker–or its symbolic equivalent, which here is Social Order and Authority–and stay Neutral. A person can’t even say “I’m going to use it for Good!” or justice and stay Neutral.

And so Javert, imo, falls into Lawful Evil.

#I am not in the LEAST implying the BBC Marketing Person who made that chart #had any of these reasons #I suspect they just went ANTAGONIST IS BAD GUY #I mean they also called Tholomyes a POET #so like #no #but I think you're talking about the book Nonny #and I Have Thought About This a LOT #and at this point #I should be well out of the main tags #so #Javert Talk #Alignment Talk #Hey Nonny Nonny #answereds #long post #long long post

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