Title: The Count of Monte Cristo
Author: Alexander Dumas
Pages: 531
Date: 2/6/25
I chose this book because it is one of my favorite movies and is about a man unjustly imprisoned, how he escapes and gains incalculable wealth and uses his wealth/prestige against his enemies. Naturally, the book was different from the movie. In this case, this might be one of the times I liked the movie better – not because it was better but because the book was very complicated with all of the various people and complicated schemes Edmond Dante/The Count was playing against his enemies.
Here are the plot & characters of the book:
Edmond Dante/Count of Monte Cristo – the main character (protagonist) was wrongly imprisoned in the Chateau D’If, an island prison seven miles off the coast of Marseille, France. He was the first mate of the Pharaon, a ship returning from the east side of Italy. On his return, the captain died, but made a last request of Edmond to visit the island of Elba and deliver a package to Napoleon, who was exiled there after his first reign. He also was handed a mysterious letter. Within three days of his return to Marseille, he was detained at his engagement party and when questioned about why he visited Elba, he explained that it was at the last request of his captain. When Edmond produced the letter to the magistrate, which showed support for Napoleon, the magistrate realized that the letter was written to his own father. As this letter was treasonous, he could not let it be delivered or for anyone to know what was on the letter and to whom it was to be delivered. He burned the letter and Edmond was delivered to the prison without anyone knowing where he went.
Mercedes Catalan – the fiancee’ of Edmond. Edmond disappeared after three days. Within 18 months, she married Fernand Morcef.
Fernand Morcef – He was somewhat of an enemy to Edmond due to his constant pursuit of Mercedes, even though she was engaged. He married Mercedes 18 months after the disappearance of Edmond. Over the next ten years, he would betray Napoleon on the battlefield for money and a promotion, would betray XX for more money and would betray another general for even more money – all to become rich.
Danglars – Danglars was the Pharaon’s purser who served under the captain and later, under First Mate Edmond Dante, after the captain died. He was opposed to Napoleon and was upset that Edmond took 1.5 days to visit Elba after the captain’s death. He was also jealous of Edmond, who was destined to become captain of a ship at only 20 years of age.
De Villafort – He was the prosecutor that received the letter from Edmondand sentenced Edmond to life in the prison after he realized that the letter from the captain was destined for Napoleon.
Monsier Morrel – he was the owner of the Pharaon and multiple other ships. After his death early in the book, the same name is used for his son, Maximillian Morrel. Both of the Morrels were strong supporters and good friends to Edmond.
Abbe Faria – he was the priest who was tunneling under Edmond’s cell and with whom Edmond became friends in prison. The priest taught him multiple languages, how to fight with swords and everything else a man would need to become a gentleman in France. He ultimately told him where the treasure was located that would become the source of wealth for Edmond on his escape from the prison, which he used to tranform himself into the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo.
What I learned from this book is the following:
I am sure that many prisoners dream about getting out of prison, getting rich and seeking revenge on their enemies. By the end of the book, Edmond realized that he should not have played the role of God and have may have pushed too hard on revenge that ultimately hurt far more people than he originally intended & in some cases, caused the death of those several iterations removed from those he was punishing. In the end, he sought repentance by focusing more on helping people he loved (even moreso than immediately after his transformation) and respected vs punishing those who had so greatly abused him.
Edmond Dante was a very good person before his arrest. He was destined to become the youngest captain in the fleet of Morrel & Son and his crew loved and respected him greatly. After his escape from prison, he transformed himself into the Count of Monte Cristo. His policy after this was to “Punish evil people and help the ones you love.”
He punished Fernand Morcef, who was in the French Parliament, but revealing all the treachery he had done in order to become rich so that he was removed from Parliament. By default, he also ruined the life of Mercedes and their son, but the latter two realized what had happened and left Fernand and dedicated themselves to starting over. He punished Danglars by causing him to lose a great portion of his wealth, so much so that Morcef embezzled the bank for whom he worked. The Count caught him, imprisoned him in the same conditions as what Edmond had been placed 20 years before, and caused him to give up 99% of his wealth – essentially bankrupting him while his wife-in-name-only became wealthy and they separated. He punished De Villafort by publicly revealing that he had killed an illegitimate baby from an affair with Danglar’s wife (before she married Danglar) and that he had allowed his second wife, Madame Villafort, to kill the parents of his first wife, a servant and the daughter of his first wife (Valentin) with poison. He further punished De Villafort when he caused both Madame Villaforte and her son with De Villafort to die by suicide. In the very end, Villafort went insane.
He saved the business of the elder Monsier Morrel and became like a second father to Maximillian Morrel. He privately saved the life of Valentin and presented her after the funeral to Maximillian due to their strong, pure and true love for one another. He also helped the sister of Maximillian find her true love and happiness with the main clerk of Morrel and son. There were other small gifts and assistance he provided to tertiary characters in the book. He showed love & respect to Abbe Faria by “properly” using the wealth and knowledge bestowed that Faria bestowed upon him during their ten year friendship.
I learned the following things that will increase my prospects for success after prison:
1) Focusing on revenge on those who wronged you is a bad and all-consuming approach to life. It takes too much energy, time and other resources to hold a grudge and attempt to seek revenge. It is much more productive to focus on the positive things in your own life and build on that. It also makes you (from Dante’s perspective) an agent of Satan.
2) It is good to help your friends & those you love – which makes you an agent of God. Sometimes only a kind word of support or taking the time to listen to someone talk is all you need to do. We should each do what we are capable of doing for our friends, when we can do it.
3) While I am sure that prison will change me a little bit, the core values of Dennis Zeedyk will remain the same. Maybe it is possible that it will change me for the better if I can become more disciplined, learn Spanish and swear less.
