Questions / Discussion Ideas

• The students in Les Misérables believe that there are things worth fighting for and perhaps even dying for. Do you agree with them? Why?
• The students are taking the law into their own hands. Do you think they are right or wrong? Is such action ever justified?
• Did the students at the barricade die in vain? How do you measure whether the death of a young person in such a circumstance is "worthwhile?"

Assignments/Research And Writing Projects

• Can you imagine ever taking the law into your own hands? Why or why not? If you can envision such a possibility, describe the circumstances.
• What is a value or a belief that you might fight for? How would you go about it?
• Research the methods and philosophies of the civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Which do you agree with? Which would you think the student revolutionaries in Les Misérables might agree with? Which would you think Jean Valjean might agree with?
• Research a 20th Century student rebellion, such as the American student movement of the 1960's or the Chinese pro-democracy movement of May/June 1989 in Beijing. Compare the motivations of the students - and the outcome - to the experience of the student rebels in Les Misérables.