The Count of Monte Cristo Essay Response
- Submitted by: GinaBonfiglio
- Views: 1415
- Category: English: Novels
- Date Submitted: 03/02/2011 05:40 PM
- Pages: 7
- Report this Essay
The Count of Monte Cristo Essay Response
In the novel The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, the symbolism created by multiple motifs forms many themes throughout the story. The use of direct statements, plot elements settings, symbols, and motifs help to create these themes. Two themes present in the novel include the notion that no man’s power over his fellow man should near the Divine power of justice given by God; also that men who know no suffering can not truly appreciate the peace of contentment. Instead these men become greedy, while only the people who have suffered can truly experience happiness.
The idea that power over human justice is only God’s right and no man has this same right is supported by many motifs and scenes from the story. The first motif that supports this theme is the limits of human justice. This is shown throughout the entire novel displaying that no man is entirely crime-free and has the right to justify his deeds over another man’s wrongs, while condemning the other and not himself. Due to human nature, and mankind’s inability to be selfless or all seeing, as God is, true justice is never truly achieved because man’s personal intentions intervene with true, selfless justice. No one person is completely innocent, and with their personal selfishness, as shown in Villefort’s decision to unjustly condemn the innocent Edmond Dantes, for the sake of his own personal status. Villefort’s selfish thoughts are shown in the novel as he is described to have put “…on the air of a man called upon to decide on the life or death of his fellow man... [he] thought of his father’s political opinions, which might prove disastrous for his future if he did not separate himself completely from them…” (23) By taking the law into his own hands and cruelly condemning a promising young life into doom, his first priority is to secure his future. Villefort does this by hiding away a direct link of his family name to the Bonapartist...
In the novel The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, the symbolism created by multiple motifs forms many themes throughout the story. The use of direct statements, plot elements settings, symbols, and motifs help to create these themes. Two themes present in the novel include the notion that no man’s power over his fellow man should near the Divine power of justice given by God; also that men who know no suffering can not truly appreciate the peace of contentment. Instead these men become greedy, while only the people who have suffered can truly experience happiness.
The idea that power over human justice is only God’s right and no man has this same right is supported by many motifs and scenes from the story. The first motif that supports this theme is the limits of human justice. This is shown throughout the entire novel displaying that no man is entirely crime-free and has the right to justify his deeds over another man’s wrongs, while condemning the other and not himself. Due to human nature, and mankind’s inability to be selfless or all seeing, as God is, true justice is never truly achieved because man’s personal intentions intervene with true, selfless justice. No one person is completely innocent, and with their personal selfishness, as shown in Villefort’s decision to unjustly condemn the innocent Edmond Dantes, for the sake of his own personal status. Villefort’s selfish thoughts are shown in the novel as he is described to have put “…on the air of a man called upon to decide on the life or death of his fellow man... [he] thought of his father’s political opinions, which might prove disastrous for his future if he did not separate himself completely from them…” (23) By taking the law into his own hands and cruelly condemning a promising young life into doom, his first priority is to secure his future. Villefort does this by hiding away a direct link of his family name to the Bonapartist...