What she says: i’m fine
What she means: the finale of Les Mis is really powerful and important when the ‘Do you hear the people sing?’ theme returns and it really speaks to the theme of the book. In the early version of that song, the revolutionaries and Les Amis are hopeful and determined. They believe that they can achieve their goals of freedom and equality, and they have faith that the people of France will fight with them for the ideals of the revolution. They sing about tomorrow coming and they mean a future with equality and freedom, and they mean the same thing when they talk about a world beyond the barricade, a world you long to see- a world with equality, past the politics and the fighting. But then they die, and it is tragic and terrible, and worst of all, it seems pointless. The viewer is left asking along with Marius, what their sacrifice was for? The world isn’t any better. They’re just dead. But then, the finale comes. You have hope again, and you hear the inspiring theme begin to play.
This time, the revolutionaries are in heaven, but they’re still singing about a fight and about a new world being the barricade. But this time, they’re singing about the fight that is life. They counter the pointless despair of the people who gain nothing from life in ‘at the end of the day’. They argue that there is a world beyond this barricade-a world beyond this life, with true freedom and happiness, that can only be achieved through the struggle and hardship of fighting for your beliefs. Tomorrow comes, the eternal tomorrow Victor Hugo references so often in his book. Because the true meaning of Les Mis is not that life is miserable, but that goodness, in the end will give you joy in the next life. The revolution is redeemed, and the viewer, along with Jean Valjean, suddenly understands and hears the people sing.