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Definition of Oxymoron
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two contradictory terms or ideas are intentionally paired in order to make a point—particularly to reveal a deeper or hidden truth... read full definition
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two contradictory terms or ideas are intentionally paired in order to make a point—particularly to reveal... read full definition
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two contradictory terms or ideas are intentionally paired in order to... read full definition
Volume 3, Book 8: The Wicked Poor Man
Explanation and Analysis—The Delight of Violence:
When Thenardier confirms that he saved a general at the Battle of Waterloo—albeit in hopes of robbing the man later—all of Marius's doubt regarding who he is disappears. The narrator uses an oxymoron to describe the repulsiveness of such a man as Thenardier:
His perplexity was redoubled. Moreover, there was in all these words of Thénardier, in his accent, in his gesture, in his glance that darted flames at every word, there was, in this explosion of an evil nature disclosing everything, in that mixture of braggadocio and abjectness, of pride and pettiness, of rage and folly, in that chaos of real griefs and false sentiments, in that immodesty of a malicious man tasting the voluptuous delights of violence, in that shameless nudity of a repulsive soul, in that conflagration of all sufferings combined with all hatreds, something that was as hideous as evil, and as heart-rending as the truth.
Marius is doubled over by the truth that the man who saved his father’s life is a purely evil man without any remorse, someone interested only in money. Thenardier is malicious and takes joy in the suffering of others, which the narrator points out with an oxymoron: “the voluptuous delights of violence.” Thenardier revels in misery and feeds on violence. This oxymoron highlights the unthinkable evil within Thenardier, highlighting the fact that he is so repulsive that he has no qualms stealing from a nearly dead man. The story depicts Thenardier as soulless and malicious in comparison with Javert, who truly believes he is doing the right thing for the greater good, despite being one of the novel's antagonists.
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