Theme Of Redemption In The Count Of Monte Cristo

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

One way of achieving redemption was through dueling. In ancient France, dueling was a necessary part of their society. They believed dueling would not only justify a person’s actions, but also prove whom is more worthy. When it comes to his writing, Dumas addresses it in the same respect (Stowe 113-114). In Monte Cristo, there are several occasions when the characters would send invitations proposing a duel to settle whatever conflict is between them. The most memorable example of this is when Albert and the Count plan to duel to settle the dispute between them, as well as to prove whom is more worthy. Men began dueling so they could gain honor amongst each other. Within the first twenty years, approximately ten thousand men died trying to defend their honor (Holland 22). Although this does not seem like many, the population was much sparser, so it must have made a considerable impact. The fact that men will go to such extreme measures to gain respect from another man is astonishing. Nowadays, nobody cares about his honor, even less other peoples’. It is undefinable. Whatever it may be, only a gentleman had it and needed to defend it. It was not a matter of manners, but one of status (Holland 25). Considering this, the Count must be a highly respected man, considering all of the duels he has won. In addition, the men enjoyed dueling because it supplied a gratification that was much more

While getting inspiration for Monte Cristo, he heard a story about a man, which inspired the plot for his novel. Picaud, the man whom inspired the story, gained vengeance in a much more gruesome way than Dantes does. Picaud takes vengeance whereas Dantes is avenged. Justice is achieved because good is stronger than evil, not because of the Count’s power (Stowe 125). Perhaps this is Dumas’s opinion on vengeance. If it is well earned, then it will fall into the man’s hands rightfully (Maurois). Dumas’s inspiration for the novel also came from his personal life. His father was heavily mistreated, and as he watched helplessly for his whole childhood, it became important to him to avenge his father. Although people in his own life may not have wronged him as they did his father, he believes in revenge, and sought revenge through his literature (Maurois). Through the character of Edmond Dantes, Dumas portrayed his own desire to justify his father’s oppressors. In Maurois’s article, he speaks about this, saying, “He must have been sorely tempted to find compensation in fiction for the iniquities of the real world.” Perhaps he was afraid to vocalize his opinion publicly, so he decided on a more subtle route, which was to create a story that everyone could identify with. Writing Monte Cristo must have been closure for Dumas at the expense of his father. He sought vengeance in the form of literature