revenge: Is it justified?

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How is a person supposed to act when they are betrayed? The thought of revenge is something that every human thinks about in times of betrayal. It is necessary for someone to know if taking revenge is appropriate or not. In the book “The Count of Monte Cristo”, by Alexander Dumas, revenge is a prominent theme throughout the book. It is mostly shown with the main character of the book, Edmond Dantes. His revenge was justified even though some of his acts of revenge had unintended outcomes for others. You may wonder where should a person draw the line when it comes to revenge? In the book, Edmond Dantes is a hard working first mate on the Pharaon, and doesn’t do anything outside of the ordinary. His whole entire life changed within moments, and he went from having a good life, to being locked up in the Chateau D’if. After he realized that he had been wrongly accused of his treason, that’s when he drew the line. One example of how Edmond Dantes got his revenge on the people that brought him down was how he handled his past affairs with Danglars. Danglars was the man behind the fraud letter, which sent Dantes to the chateau d’if for treason. He helped Fernand and Villefort do this because he then would be able to become captain of the Pharaon. Danglars also let Dantes father die of starvation. Dantes got his revenge on Danglars in what might be one of the most intricate ways throughout the whole entire book. Danglars took away his freedom by making the false letter, all just for a little personal gain. To a man like Edmond Dantes, freedom is one of the things he valued most because he wasn’t considered a wealthy man like Danglars. So what Dantes did was take away what mattered most to Danglars, his money. Dantes had earlier funded D... ... middle of paper ... ... refused by Mercedes, but he then read a passage in Faria's writing that does approve of what happened to the bad guys, and is okay with what he has done. Edmond Dantes was a hard working, honest, and friendly man. It was only until others changed his life completely for the worse, did he begin to seek vengeance on those who did him wrong. Not once did Dantes have any intentions of using his newfound wealth for any reasons not pertaining to getting even with Danglars, Villefort, and Fernand. In the end, he was successful in his quest for revenge. Yes, his style of revenge might have been more severe than what others would do, but only Dantes himself knows the suffering he wrongfully endured for the gain of others. Even though some of his actions sometimes damaged innocent people, his revenge was justified because he only did to his betrayers, what they did to him.

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