Les Miserables: 30 Francs on Morality
"Certain persons are malicious solely through a necessity for talking. Their conversation, the chat of the drawing room, gossip of the anteroom, is like those chimneys which consume wood rapidly; they need a great amount of combustibles; and their combustibles are furnished by their neighbors.
"So Fantine was watched.
"In addition, many a one was jealous of her golden had and of her white teeth.
"It was remarked that in the workroom she often turned aside, in the midst of the rest, to wipe away a tear. These were the moments when she was thinking of her child; perhaps, ale, of the man whom she had loved."
...
"all this took time. Fantine had been at the factory for more than a year, when, one morning, the superintendent of the workroom handed her fifty francs from the mayor, told her that she was no longer employed in the shop, and requested her, in the mayor's name, to leave the neighborhood."
It does not take long for the words of our neighbors to cause outcasts. People are easily turned from good citizens into demonic forces in a community. I did not talk more about the individual persons journey to destroy Fantine's life. But the mission of the gossip, is simply to have something to talk about. The effect of the gossip, is to destroy people's lives.
For many years Bullying has been a huge issue in schools. For more years, gossip and slander have been issues in the work place and small communities. There is the old adage if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all. Sometimes it is better for us not to have anything to say, then for us to hate our neighbor with words.
The lesson of Fantine continues through the first part of the story. The lesson is how fast sin can take control in people's lives. Sin death and the power of the devil are active in people around us. Take the time at the work place to find out good things about your co-workers. Like, the love they have lost, and the love they still care for. Thank you.
"So Fantine was watched.
"In addition, many a one was jealous of her golden had and of her white teeth.
"It was remarked that in the workroom she often turned aside, in the midst of the rest, to wipe away a tear. These were the moments when she was thinking of her child; perhaps, ale, of the man whom she had loved."
...
"all this took time. Fantine had been at the factory for more than a year, when, one morning, the superintendent of the workroom handed her fifty francs from the mayor, told her that she was no longer employed in the shop, and requested her, in the mayor's name, to leave the neighborhood."
It does not take long for the words of our neighbors to cause outcasts. People are easily turned from good citizens into demonic forces in a community. I did not talk more about the individual persons journey to destroy Fantine's life. But the mission of the gossip, is simply to have something to talk about. The effect of the gossip, is to destroy people's lives.
For many years Bullying has been a huge issue in schools. For more years, gossip and slander have been issues in the work place and small communities. There is the old adage if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all. Sometimes it is better for us not to have anything to say, then for us to hate our neighbor with words.
The lesson of Fantine continues through the first part of the story. The lesson is how fast sin can take control in people's lives. Sin death and the power of the devil are active in people around us. Take the time at the work place to find out good things about your co-workers. Like, the love they have lost, and the love they still care for. Thank you.
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