Ever since I first read Victor Hugo's novel, Les Miserables, I have been intrigued with the character of Inspector Javert, the dogged pursuer of a lawbreaker named Jean Valjean. He is the Law, so he says, and everything in his world is black and white. One is either a sinner, or a saint; a lawbreaker or a lawabider; clean and good or dirty and evil. He is so terribly misguided, this poor Javert. His life is order.

Many people have said that Javert suffers from some sort of psychological disorder, because he cannot recognize the grey areas between the light and the dark, the twilight that hovers between them. He is not evil, nor is he the villain of Les Miserables, as many people have said he is. This is where I hated the recent dramatic remake of Les Miserables; not only did they make the love story between Marius and Cosette into the theme of the entire movie, they characterized Javert as the villain. In the musical, as well as in the novel, Thenardier is more of a villain than Javert is.

The most intriguing thing I find about Javert lies in the song "Javert's Suicide," in Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's musical of the same name He sings, "Can this man be believed? Shall his sins be forgiven? Shall his crimes be reprieved? And must I now begin to doubt, who never doubted all these years? My heart is stone, and still it trembles! The world I have known is lost in shadow. Is he from heaven or from hell? And does he know that granting me my life today this man has killed me even so?" Javert, lying in his black-and-white world for his entire life, finally comes to the realization that Valjean has changed. Dealing with men like Thenardier all his life, Javert finds this staggering, and he cannot face the fact that he may actually be persecuting a good man, a man who follows his Law and his God. Of course, it doesn't excuse his earlier conduct. But, Javert deserves our compassion and our pity more than he does our excoriation.

Below I have placed some pictures of men who have played Javert across the years.

	"You know nothing of Javert / I was born inside a jail / I was born with scum like you / I am from the gutter too..." "There is no place for you to hide... wherever you may hide away... I swear to you, I will be there." This Javert is from the first film made of Les Miserables, in early 20th-century France. I'm not sure who he is, but he doesn't look like the lean, mean inspector we all know and love, probably because he does not have the musical's signature muttonchop sideburns. This film was en francais, and came even before there was even the thought of making a musical out of Victor Hugo's beloved book. It's the only time you see him in this sort of costume, too.
	"So, Valjean, we see eachother plain. Monsieur le mere, you'll wear a different chain." "Five years for what you did, the rest because you tried to run, no, 24601. (My name is Jean Valjean!) And I'm Javert! Do not forget my name. Do not forget me, 24601." This is Philip Quast, one of the more well-known Javerts, singing at the 25th Anniversary Concert, which brought together, arguably, the greats of Les Mis fame: Quast, Colm Wilkenson, Judy Kuhn, and others. Notice the sideburns... you'll see them again.
	"Another brawl in the square / another stink in the air! / Is there a witness to this? / Well, let him speak to Javert!" "And those who follow the path of the righteous / shall have their reward. And if they fall / as Lucifer fell / the flame, the sword." This is the mann (pun intended) that made the role of Javert: no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Every Javert since then has had to live up to Terrence Mann's firey, spectacular performance. I wish I could have seen Mann and Colm Wilkenson opposite one another as Valjean and Javert... what a performance that would be!
	"There / out in the darkness / a fugitive running / fallen from God / fallen from grace / God be my witness / I never shall yield / 'till we come face to face / till we come face to face." "Who is this man / what sort of devil is he / to have me caught in a trap / and choose to let me go free? / It was his hour at last / to put a seal on my fate / wipe off the past and watch me clean off the slate / all it would take was a flick of his knife / vengeance was his and he gave me back my life!" Michael McCarthy is this Javert. I've never seen him or heard a recording with him as the role, so I can't say anything. Muttonchop sideburn alert. He looks more Irish than French, and is a bit more pudgy around the face than I ever imagined Javert to be.
	"Good evening, dear Inspector, lovely evening, my dear. I know this man, my friends, his name's Inspector Javert. So don't believe a word he says, 'cause none of it's true!" -Gavroche "One more day to revolution / we will nip it in the bud! / I will join these little schoolboys / they will wet themselves with blood!" This is one of the most powerful scenes in the musical, and in the book. Javert meets with Valjean once more... but Valjean has his enemy's life in his hands. Instead, he lets Javert go free. Javert cannot understand Valjean's mercy, and it leads to his death. This is, once again, Michael McCarthy.
	"I will join these people's heroes / I will follow where they go / I will know their little secrets / I will know the things they know." "Shoot me now or shoot me later / every schoolboy to his sport / Death to each and every traitor / I renounce your people's court!" Philip Quast again: the embodiment of Javert, the lean, mean, revolution-fighting machine. Um. Yeah.
	"Once a thief, forever a thief / What you want you always steal! / You would trade your life for mine / Yes, Valjean, you want a deal / Shoot me now, for all I care / If you let me go, beware. You'll still answer to Javert!" The pivotal scene between Valjean and Javert. This is Terrence Mann and Colm Wilkenson, arguably the two most famous actors in Les Mis.
	"Damned if I'll live in the debt of a thief! Damned if I'll yield at the end of the chase! I am the Law and the Law is not mocked- I'll spit his pity right back in his face! There is nothing on earth that we share- it is either Valjean or Javert!" "I am reaching, but I fall, and the stars are black and cold. As I stare into the void of a world that cannot hold. I'll escape now from the world, from the world of Jean Valjean. There is nowhere I can turn. There is no way to go on..." I always found this scene to make me catch my breath. Earlier in the musical, Valjean sings his pivotal, life changing song to this exact melody- very, very ironic that it is now Javert's death hymn.