"All we have to do is kill him, take the diamond and money, then leave." Gaspard Caderousse looks at his wife with a gleam in his eye. The rogue thinks about what would happen if he lets his wife do the arduous task of killing the jeweler. He already had seen the jeweler's two pistols. She would rush in to the jeweler's room and stab the jeweler; the jeweler would shoot and kill her. All Caderousse would have to do is go upstairs, make sure the jeweler is dead, get the diamond, come downstairs, collect the banknotes and leave with the diamond and money. All of this is going through Gaspard Caderousse's mind before he carries out his plan to take all of the money and the diamond. It seems that people will do almost anything for money. The power of money in the affairs of human beings is a predominant theme in The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
Money affects even poor men in The Count of Monte Cristo. Gaspard Caderousse is one of these men. At the very beginning of the book Edmond Dantes comes home from a trip on the Pharaon and visits his father's house. Almost as soon as Dantes sees his father he says, "What's the matter father? You don't look well." (7) His father says that his next door neighbor, Caderousse, required him to pay off an old loan between him and Edmond. The loathsome Caderousse doesn't care that if he takes the money from Old Dantes while his son is away he won't have enough money left to live and he will most likely starve to death. All Caderousse cares about is money. He is willing to kill someone for money; he lies for it too. This happens later in the novel after Edmond Dantes has escaped from prison. Disguised as Abbe Busoni, Dantes comes to Caderousse's Inn and tells Caderousse that he is the person to carry out Edmond Dantes' will. The Abbe Busoni has a diamond and he is to split it up among Edmond Dantes' only five real friends. Caderousse tries to make it sound as if he is the only real friend and is the worse off even though, in reality, he isn't Edmond's real friend. He lies over and over claiming to be an honest man just so he can get the whole diamond. He gets the whole diamond by lying repeatedly. Later, he gets his money by blackmailing someone. He blackmails Andrea Calvacanti, Benedetto, in order to get money. He is able to blackmail Andrea because he knows his real name and about his past. At...
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...ng a lot of money does not always bring happiness. The Count of Monte Cristo has more than a lot of money, yet it doesn't bring him happiness. The only thing that brings him happiness is Haydee. All throughout the novel we see her help with the Count's plans of revenge, but that is not why she brings him happiness. He ardently loves her and she loves him. At the end of the novel the last image of them is together "on the dark blue line separating the sky from the Mediterranean" (441) sailing away to happiness.
Finally, money is not just an issue in literature. It is also an important key to present day life. People still can control things with money. For example, Mrs. Mary Jane Jenkins is a very wealthy lady. She can very easily bribe people. One particular person she bribes is Mr. Larry Jones, a stockbroker, who gives her insider information every Friday at noon. No one catches her, but if they did she could just give them money so they wouldn't tell. Things like the example above happen in The Count of Monte Cristo. The power of money in the affairs of human beings is a predominant theme in The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
This novel depicts greed on several occasions through out the novel. One example of this is when Gatsby is left twenty five thousand dollars by Dan Cody as a legacy, but from what one is led to believe Ella Kaye refused to let
Money can cause people to act selfish and arrogant, especially when they have so much money they do noteven know what to spend it on. In the novel,
Money and Corruption in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby During the time in our country's history called the roaring twenties, society had a new obsession, money. Just shortly after the great depression, people's focus now fell on wealth and success in the economic realm. Many Americans would stop at nothing to become rich and money was the new factor in separation of classes within society. Wealth was a direct reflection of how successful a person really was and now became what many people strived to be, to be rich. Wealth became the new stable in the "American dream" that people yearned and chased after all their lives.
It is believed by many that it is human nature to deem themselves to be a tantamount to God. Such is the case when one decides to take revenge against those who wrong him. Though vengeance seems like the perfect way to achieve justice, a sense of equity, in actuality it is merely an unsatisfactory hypocritical action. This is the definitive realization of the protagonist, Edmond Dantès in Alexandre Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo”. The protagonist comes to understand that after a lifetime of searching for justice, he really only yearns justice from himself. Akin to many of Alexandre Dumas’ other masterpieces, “The Count of Monte Cristo” is a dramatic tale of mystery and intrigue that paints a dazzling, dueling, exuberant vision of the Napoleonic era in France. In this thrilling adventure, Edmond Dantès is toiling with the endeavor of attaining ultimate revenge, after being punished by his enemies and thrown into a secret dungeon in the Chateau d’If. He reluctantly learns that his long intolerable years in captivity, miraculous escape and carefully wrought revenge are all merely vital parts in his journey of awakening to the notion that there is no such thing as happiness or unhappiness, there is merely the comparison between the two. Ultimately, the irony that Dumas is presenting through this novel suggests that the inability to attain happiness through the hypocrisy that is revenge is because one is really avenging their own self. This becomes evident through his dramatic transformations from a naïve, young sailor, to a cold, cynical mastermind of vengeance, and finally to a remorseful, humble man who is simply content.
Health inequalities in any country is an important issue. There are many reasons for inequalities in health, for example, gender and age, economic and social factors.
Wealth also influences the way the characters’ peers view them. Wealth plays a main role in the lives of the characters despite the differences that exist. Even though the novels take place in very opposite places, the superficial longing for wealth and the existence of wealth impacts the characters in similar ways.
The love of money is the root of all evil, a statement that has proved itself true through the centuries. Loving money traps us, as human beings. It is not a bad thing to enjoy what money can do; however, the love of money is a wasted effort that can put all in grave peril. It is at our advantage that we have the ability to choose whether we ‘want’ to fall into that trap. Unfortunately, that choice is difficult since society associates one’s character with wealth and financial management. The mishaps, deaths, and hardships that occur from the beginning of the tale are the result of deliberate deception for personal gain. In Treasure Island, greed sends the characters on a voyage. Robert Louis Stevenson makes a social commentary on the role that money has come to play in our society.
Even Candide has his encounters with greed when robbers take away some of the sheep that he is given by the king of Eldorado. Voltaire even makes his mind known when the king says, “I can’t understand why you people from Europe are so fond of our yellow mud…” (Voltaire 71). Voltaire sees the horrors of greed, but does not see the need for greed when if “a man is fairly well off somewhere, he ought to stay there” (Voltaire 71). Both of these statements relate that Voltaire views a good life as far superior to the chaos of aspiring for riches or what a person does not need. Although Candide gets attacked by robbers, Voltaire shows just how greedy humanity is through the contrast of Candide whose only desire is to “go and present his sheep to Lady Cunegonde” (Voltaire 72) and those who exploit him for his riches by deceiving him. These deceptions start as soon as Candide is back in civilization and searching for a ship. One such person, a ship captain, says “he [can] not take [Candide] to Venice for less
And so greed exists in the modern periods, saturating its two of its most famous novels and a theme of two of its most famous authors, portraying as all evil as caused by greed, illustrating the true cynicism of the era.
Few of us can deny the importance and power that money has in our society. It is difficult to think of issues that affect us on a daily basis, that does not involve money. But where does this fixation on money originate...
The role of money in people's day-to-day lives is quite amazing when it's put into perspective. The primary reason most Americans get up in the morning is so they can go out and make money. Money buys things; money influences people; money keeps us ali ve; money makes us happy. Or does it? In Fences, by August Wilson, the Maxtons get their money when Gabe's head is shot in the war. In A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansbury, the Younger family gets their money when Walter's father dies.
While he lies on the ground gasping for breath, Caderousse tells the Abbe Busoni that he does not believe in God. Only moments later, Edmond Dantes reveals himself to him, and he spends his dying breath asking the Lord to forgive him. Edmond Dantes, looking at his corpse, whispers “one”. This was the first evident moment in Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo where Edmond Dantes achieves any justification on his enemies for the wrongs they have done to him. After twenty years of meticulous planning, Dantes carries out his plan of ultimate revenge on his enemies in order to achieve the justice he believes he deserves. In his novel, Dumas shows that to obtain true justice—whether personal or societal—one must understand the limits of
The author shows that money can change a characters behavior. You see this behavioral change in Claire by the way she dresses and acts as she is above everyone. In the beginning
"The Necklace," Guy de Maupassant effectively employs a very dreary mood, despondent character and a surprise ending to develop the idea that when an individual is overcome by greed, that person has an excessive desire to obtain material wealth to feel self sustained.
Janwillem Van De Wetering says, “Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it is never enough.” Guy De Maupassant’s “The Necklace” tells of Mrs. Mathilde Loisel’s longings for the finer things in life. Her desires are so intense she risks her husband’s affections, the friendship of an old chum, and even her mediocre lifestyle to pursue these cravings. One small decision based on an ill-placed desire causes a slow drawn out death of the spirit, body and relationships.