"May everyone be the fool they wish to be, as long as they do not set a bad example."
Published in 1869, the novel was written by 67-year-old Victor Hugo during his exile. Compared to “Les Miserables”, published just seven years before, “The Man Who Laughs” still presents the author’s concern on social issues, particularly the luxury of few, paid by the misery of several. However, “The Man Who Laughs” feels much more cynical and bitter.
The story, set in the 17th century England, portrays the life of Gwynplaine, a boy with a scar on his face that simulates a permanent smile, a mutilation made from comprachicos (if translated literally, "child-buyers"). I could not confirm the historical evidence of comprachicos, since the term seems to be coined by the author in this book itself, but they are described as people who would cause intentional mutilation of children, who would be then used for entertainment in circuses, freak shows, or court fools.
For Gwynplaine’s first appearance, he is abandoned on a rocky hillside by a boat of gypsies who are trying to avoid attention after a royal order to banish the comprachicos. Victor Hugo is unforgiving, as the boat sinks right after Gwynplaine’s abandonment and all the gypsies are kneeling and praying as the boat submerges, as a divine punishment for the worst of sins: harming a child.
Walking alone in the snow, Gwynplaine is first terrified by the figure of a hanging body in a gallow; next, he finds and rescues a blind baby embraced by the corpse of her mother; then both are finally sheltered by the itinerant vendor Ursus and his pet wolf, Homo. Ursus, who becomes a crude, yet affectionate father figure for Gwynplaine and Dea, is described in his own words as a “wild wise man”, as the officers are the “domestic wise men”. As Gwynplaine grows, the three of them become popular saltimbancos, performing a play in which Gwynplaine is able to, like a clown, snatch heavy laughers from the public.
Gwynplaine is found to be the proper heir of a noble family, becoming Lord Fermain Clancharlie in a blink of an eye. At the House of Lords, the lords all agree to increase taxes, but Gwynplaine raises and pronounces a hurtful, angry, passionate speech about the social inequalities and about the people’s misery.
"One night, a stormy night, very small, abandoned, orphaned, alone in this colossal world, I made my debut in this obscurity they call society. The first thing I saw was the law, in the form of a gallow; the second was wealth, your wealth in the shape of a woman, dead by cold and hunger; the third was the future, in the shape of a dying child; the fourth was goodness, truth, and justice, in the figure of a nomad who had as a companion and friend just a wolf."
This scene is profoundly disturbing. It is terrible, humiliating, and frustrating, as the lords keep on laughing at his scarred face and permanent smile, ignoring the tragic statement of his words. Gwynplaine is in deep distress, as his tragic soul is trapped in that comedic body.
"You, gentlemen, say I'm a monster. No, I'm the people. Am I an exception? No, I'm everyone. The exception is you. You are the chimera, and I am the reality. I am the Man. I am the hideous Man who Laughs. Who laughs at what? At you, gentlemen. At himself. At everything. What is this laugh of mine? It is the crime of you gentlemen and it is my own torment. This crime I throw in your face; this torment I spit in your face. I laugh, and that means: I cry."
In the end, Gwynplaine renounces his position and looks for Ursus and Dea, but she is already weak and cannot recover. As Dea dies, a delirious Gwynplaine walks along the deck and “follows” Dea, throwing himself and disappearing into the sea.
I am biased, this might not be among one of his top 3 classic works, but Victor Hugo is my favorite writer and I say he does have his way with words. Social inequalities is that very one issue that challenges all sustainability topics: we have access to education, food, health, culture, and a healthy environment, as long as we can pay for it.
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