The+Count+of+Monte+Cristo

Please write a brief response to the book in which you provide a quote that you consider interesting, puzzling, or provocative, and create a question based on that quote that might provide meaningful discussion. Remember to place the quote in context the way you would in a summer reading journal.

After his escape from prison, the Count's mind is hardened against suffering. Such coldness was expressed by his unsympathetic observance of an execution at Carnival. And yet his compassion was shown by him securing the freedom of one of the captives doomed to execution. The captive was a friend of Luigi Vampa, who in turn was a friend of great utility to the Count. Do you think that the Count in this scene, as in other scenes, was motivated by compassion or by calculations? What do you think of his other acts of kindness, such as his helping Morrel out of debt?

-Dana Schultz

//The Count of Monte Cristo// by Alexander Dumas is a timeless tale of revenge famous for its slow, evocative build up towards its climactic resolution. The story revolves around the fall and subsequent rise of Edmond Dantes, an esteemed sailor who is wrongfully imprisoned as a result of three men's jealousy and their plot to destroy Edmond's livelihood. Edmond, naturally, escapes from prison after fourteen long years, during which he carefully crafted his own plans for vengeance. Upon his escape, Edmond claims a buried treasure, and with his incredible wealth returns from which he came to exact revenge. Upon his confrontation with the men, Edmond utters the words "How did I escape? With difficulty. How did I plan this moment? With pleasure.". The quote implies fourteen years worth of planning and built up emotion that was invested into his grand plans to vindicate his reputation and exact his revenge. That said, does emotion drive us to greatness like it did for Edmond Dantes, or cloud our judgement? What if it's fourteen years worth of emotion?

-Carrie Dillon

//The Count of Monte Cristo// by Alexander Dumas is a long story about a young sailor Edmond Dantes revenge on the men who wrongfully imprisoned him. After 14 years of imprisonment Edmond escapes and returns to his home educated and bearing a large treasure that he aquired through a prison mate. after his return Edmond visits an old friend that had vouched for him after his imprisonment but during the 14 years Edmond was gone his friends shipping business had fallen into ruin. after hearing this Dantes buys his friend one of the ships that had been previously in his fleet and saves him from bankruptcy. After this good dead Edmond says "I have played the part of Providence in recompensing the good, may the god of vengeance now permit me to punish the wicked!" this quote is still early in the story when Edmond still seeks the enjoyment in punishing his wrongdoers but as the story progresses his revenge does not make him happy which begs the question does taking your revenge worth you happiness?

-Cole Sanford

//The Count of Monte Cristo// by Alexandre Dumas is a novel about how a young happy-go-lucky Edmond Dantes goes through a loss of innocence after three men, Danglars, Villefort, and Fernand take his life away and send him to prison. He is held captive there for about five years alone, but fate smiles upon him by giving Edmond a friend known as Faria. After a period of nine more years Faria dies leaving Edmond with his legacy of the treasure of Monte Cristo. After fourteen long and dark years Edmond finally escapes the prison and collects Faria's legacy and gets the title of Count of Monte Cristo. He finds a massive treasure trove and goes to deliver punishment to the people who wronged him. For each one of the three he gives a different punishment like bankruptcy or death of family. When the Count watches as someone else destroys Monsieur de Villefort's family members he is content with it until one of the family is too innocent for his liking. A friend of his, Maximilian, comes to him and pleads with the Count to save Maximilian's fiancee Valentine. The Count is baffled at first, but then says, " I can do much, my friend, replied the Count. Go, I need to be alone..." The Count decides to save his friend's future wife and cut Villefort's suffering short, and through no known method of the Count, the murderer is exposed by Villefort in the form of his wife, who takes the life of their son before committing suicide. Did Villefort secretly know that it was his wife or did the Count implant the idea in his head?

- Cameron Merriken

//The Count of Monte Cristo// by Alexandre Dumas is a masterfully written tale recounting the repercussions of the wrongful imprisonment of Edmond Dantes, of a man his revenge. Late in the story, Mme Danglers, the wife of a wealthy, greedy merchant who is partly responsible for Dantes' imprisonment, is abandoned by her husband and loses her wealth, though still retaining a substantial amount of money. At a similar time, Mercedes, whose husband is also responsible for Dantes' incarceration, becomes a widow and is left with just enough money to live on. Both of these women handle their sudden poverty in completely different ways, for, as Lucien Debray, a minister of the interior, noticed that, "...the two women: the one, justly dishonored, had left with 1,500,000 franks under her cloak, while the other one, unjustly smitten, yes superb in her misfortune, considered herself rich with a few franks,"(chapter LXVII). This dichotomy shows that wealth is completely relative. Mme Dangles lived her entire life without having to worry about becoming poor, unlike Mercedes, who rose from humble beginnings and is happy just to have a son that loves her, as well as food to eat. This applies to The Count as well because he was in the same position as Mercedes, but gained vast wealth very quickly. Not only does he never become vain in the use of his fortune, but he decides to give it all up to help those he is indebted to. But was this because of the money or the person he was? Does money corrupt, or does it reveal?

-Elliott Crosland

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is a wonderfully written story of revenge that focuses around Edmond Dantes. In the book Edmond, a successful up and coming captain of a french trade ship, is accused of treason by three jealous rivals. As a result of this he is thrown into solitary confinement in France's worst prison, the Chateau d'if. While incarcerated here he meets a monk named Abbe Faria who over the course of fourteen years there educates him and tells him of a buried treasure on the Island of Monte Cristo, so that he can escape and obtain his revenge. After Abbe Faria dies Dantes escapes and uses the treasure to reinvent himself as the fabled Count of Monte Cristo. In the course of taking his revenge on the Monsiuer de Villefort his daughter Valentine is poisoned in front of her love Maximilian. In this scene Maximilian swears revenge against whoever poisoned her saying: " You are wrong. Valentine, having died as she has, needs not only a preist, but an avenger. You send for a priest Monsieur de Villefort; I shall be her avenger." This quote illustrates that the main theme of this book is revenge, not just Dante's revenge, but that of many other characters as well. This raises the question of why is vigilante revenge, like that of Dante, Maximilian and many others, such a frequent occurrence in the book and even in the book's time period?

- William Ginn

//The Count of Monte Cristo// by Alexander Dumas is a classic tale of "sweet, sweet revenge," wonderfully depicting the story of the young Edmund Dantes who had everything going for him until he was betrayed by his shipmates and sent to prison. Because Dantes had everything he loved taken away in his life, he vowed, while imprisoned in the Chateau d'If, that he would take away everything from those who had ruined his life. Dantes spends the majority of the novel enacting his revenge under the guise of the "Count of Monte Cristo" upon, for example, Monsieur Danglers and Fernand. At the end of the novel, Dantes leaves a letter for Morrel and Valentine, two young lovers whom Dantes had come to care greatly for, which states "Live and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget that, until the day comes when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these words: Wait and hope!" While Dantes has spent many years of his life being hateful and vengeful, this letter shows how he still has compassion in his heart and believes that good things will come to those who wait. This raises a question that had Danglers and Fernand, for example, had someone or something of which to care for again like Dantes with Valentine and Morrel, would they too have been able to find the compassion and love that had been so deeply buried in their hearts for so long?

- Katherine Ham

//The Count of Monte Cristo // by Alexandre Dumas is story about Edmond Dantes. It tells of his wrongful imprisonment by three conspirators. In prison he learns of his betrayal and plots his revenge. He learns of vast fortune hidden away on the island of Monte Cristo. After his escape he claims the vast fortune and uses it to play God. He decides to reward those who had done good, While at the same time he wreaks havoc on those who had done him injustice. After rewarding his faithful friends Dantes says “And now...farewell to kindness, humanity and gratitude. I have substituted myself for Providence in rewarding the good; may the God of vengeance now yield me His place to punish the wicked.” How much of the counts actions could be justified as doing the will of god.

-Benton Franklin

Edmund Dantes' life changed dramatically multiple times throughout the novel. For example, when his seemingly promising future sea life is turned into a life sentence in a horrible prison, but, incredibly, his his life-sentence ended early with his escape and the amazing luck of the treasure bestowed upon him. While prison was more than agonizing, was it worth it for Dantes? Dumas states toward the end of the story, “There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more.” Without the misery that Dantes endured, he would have nothing to compare his current state too. The reason his current state was so great was because his low point was so low according to Dumas' statement. This leads to the question, was Dantes' happier because he endured through 14 years of hopeless, painful prison? Or would he have been better off if it never happened? -RIchard Hanger