Apalogia

Gabby Kish

Mr. Linley

Eng3U

May 18, 2012

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Classic or Not?

               

What makes a piece of clothing classic? Well, it usually does not go out of style and can be worn for decades.  But what makes a novel a classic? A classic novel as said in The Concept of Classic in Literature, (Lombard, Esther) makes connections to the reader.  But even though a novel may be a classic and can connect to the reader, why do people read it? Maybe it is because they want to look back into the past and get another viewpoint of what it was like back then. Or maybe they want to learn something new. Books that are not “classics” can also do this, but what sets “classics” apart from the average book is that classics latch themselves onto the reader and stay with the reader for generations to come. The way the novel latches itself onto the reader, is by having connections. When a novel has connections, it makes the book more memorable and more engaging. People should read classics because the novel will stay with them forever. It will not just be another novel that they read once and forget about. They will read the classic once, and then read it again and again. They will connect in some way to a classic novel. This novel connects to the reader by having characters which are relatable, historical significance and an everlasting theme.  

                A classic contains characters which are easy to relate to (Sixteen Candles). Through the use of these characters, authors connect to the audience using a literary element like empathy. In this novel the main character, Quasimodo is mocked by everyone because of his appearance. ``It is Quasimodo the bell-ringer! ... Quasimodo the one-eyed! Quasimodo the bandy-legged! ... Oh the ugly ape!`` (Hugo, 41). The readers who have also experienced verbal bullying can feel empathy toward him because they have gone through what he has gone through. This makes the reader feel connected to Quasimodo because they know how he must be feeling and can relate to him.

Another aspect of Quasimodo that is easy to connect to is his desire for friendship and acceptance. Everyone views him as a monster and does not give him a chance to show his true personality. Readers can relate to this feeling of needing acceptance because they have gone through it as well. Every single person, no matter how rich and famous they are, want to feel accepted. We all go through life hoping to have friends that accept us and love us no matter what. In this novel Quasimodo does not have any of that because his father Claude is too busy for him and everyone else chooses to ignore him because they do not want to be associated with his ugly appearance.

 The character of Quasimodo was easy to connect to because he was inspired by a real life person (The Telegraph). In this article it talked about someone discovering a journal that contained information about a hunchbacked man known as “Le Bossu” (hunchback in French). Since Hugo possibly wrote about a real person, his feelings towards the hunchback were real and not just imagined. Hugo had a specific image in his head and that made the character of Quasimodo relatable because he was just an average person living in the 1800’s and not some made up character.

                Another thing that makes a novel a classic is it bears the traces of tradition and culture which it came from (Calvino, Italo). Hugo wrote this novel in the 1830’s but set the novel in the time of the 1400’s.  My research revealed that this novel caused renovations to be done on the Notre Dame (Notre Dame de Paris). This novel was a huge success in Paris and was a huge influence on the Roman Catholic Church. The reader can tell that Hugo dearly loves the Notre Dame. “The church of Notre-Dame at Paris is doubtless a sublime and majestic edifice” (Hugo, 90). Hugo’s love for the Notre Dame shines in this novel and this allows for the reader to connect to him because they can relate to loving something dearly.  Since this novel was set in the 1400’s, ranks in class were obvious. Hugo’s characters range from Louis XI to “vagabonds” which are basically travellers and are considered the lowest of the low (Mirriam-Webster). Louis XI was the King of France during the late 1400’s (Britannica Encyclopaedia). When a novel contains traces of tradition and culture that is actually real and not made up, the reader can imagine themselves actually in the book. They can go online and research into what it was actually like back then instead of having to create a mental picture themselves. This makes the novel easier to connect to which also makes the novel more engaging. 

                Finally, what makes a novel a classic is it has an everlasting theme. This novel was written in 1831 by Victor Hugo (Literature Collection). When this novel came out it was a huge success in Paris. As written about above, this novel influenced the renovations of the Notre Dame. About one hundred years later a movie was made about this novel (McGee Scott). This movie was also a huge success. One hundred years later and people still love this novel. A Disney movie was also made a little while later that was another huge hit. I believe that both of the movies and novel did so well because they were able to connect to people of all ages and backgrounds. There are so many themes in this novel that a reader can learn something new each time. One theme in particular that stood out was the idea of jealousy leading to bad decisions. Everyone can relate to this theme because everyone feels jealous at some point in their life.  Whether they are jealous of an older sibling or of a friend, they can relate to what jealousy can do to you. This theme is timeless and will never be forgotten which is what makes this novel last so long and still be enjoyed by many.

                Writing a classic novel is not about having a good plot line and relatable characters, but instead is about connecting to your audience. If the readers cannot connect to the novel then they will not read it. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo is a classic because it has all those elements above, but most importantly; it uses those elements to connect to the reader. This novel latches itself onto a piece of your brain and stays there forever. You could read this novel over and over, and not get tired or bored of it. That is why this novel deserves to be a classic. This novel will be on the shelves of libraries for generations to come.