Victor Hugo's 1834 short story tells of a worker, Claude Gueux, who steals food for his starving family and is imprisoned. In prison he gains authority over the other inmates and befriends a man named Albin. When the prison director separates them and refuses to relent, Claude murders him and is tried and executed. Hugo writes it as an argument against the death penalty and the social causes of crime.
It is a brief, impassioned story for readers who like social fiction in the vein of Les Miserables. It shows an early version of Hugo's arguments about poverty and punishment.
Clear-cut and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Evidence Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2002
- Publisher
- Flammarion
- ISBN
- 9782080721211
- Language
- FR
