Hatred, Revenge, and Providence - The Count of Monte Cristo

Originally published in a newspaper in eighteen parts from 1844 to 1846, the literary classic The Count of Monte Cristo is often deemed as one of the most popular and well-acclaimed works by the French writer Alexandra Dumas, along with his most notable work, The Three Musketeers. The entire story of the book revolves around the grand theme of betrayal, hatred, vengeance, justice, and hope, with an intricately crafted plot wrought with tension and elegant twists, skilfully narrated by Dumas’ finesse in vivid imagery and powerful monologues. The plot spanned from 1815 to 1838, probably the most chaotic period of time in French history after the French Revolution, when there were several transitions of power. On the night of his nuptial feast, Edmond Dantes, the protagonist, was snatched away from his fiancée and sentenced to jail under the non-existent charge of being a “Bonapartist” contrived by his “mates” (Douglas and Fernand) for their evil and selfish purposes. Dantes was later sent to Chateau d’If, a place where the most dangerous criminals who had committed the worst felonies were kept. Life in the dungeon was deplorable: the cell was damp and covered with rotten-smelling mould, enclosed with stone walls and iron bars which permitted no trace of sunlight. Six years of imprisonment nearly drove Dantes mad, and he attempted to commit suicide several times. The turning point came only when he met the Abbe Faria, a fellow prisoner, who endowed Dantes with knowledge in mathematics, language, science, sword fighting and more. Faria treated Edmond just as his son and, upon his death, told him about a treasure hidden at the island of Monte Cristo. After a series of well-planned manoeuvres, Edward Dantes successfully escaped from prison and acquired the treasure. Returning to Parisian society under the name of the Count of Monte Cristo, Dantes claimed himself to be the angel of vengeance, an agent of providence to get deliver justice, launching a series of merciless pre-brooded attacks against the villains who had put him under torture when he was still a young man. The Count’s story is indeed a sad one, and has been best described not as a story of betrayal, vendetta and justice, but more as a story of one man’s attempt to correct his reminiscences of past grieves. The Count's past was not only dark but excruciatingly painful – denounced by his own “friends”, separated from his betrothed, thrown into the dungeon in desperation for fourteen years, and barely managing to escape the dreadful place, only to learn of the death of his father, of the rise of Douglas and Fernand, and of his wife-to-be married to his enemy, Fernand. Every time he looked back, these bitter memories enshrouded him and extinguished the last flicker of humanity. The kind and charming Edward Dantes was finally consumed by the ultimate poison of hatred. Despite Abbe Faria’s disapproval of revenge, he blindly believed that the idea of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” would erase his hatred and serve as a remedy. With knowledge, wealth, and power, he thought his reincarnation as the Count of Monte Cristo, a man characterised by ruthlessness, cruelty and remorselessness, could act as an agent of providence and justice to punish the vices and reward the virtues. But when the Count realised that during his pursuit of revenge, a series of innocent people, including the ones he cared for most, were hurt, it finally dawned upon him how correct Faria’s advice was. The Count of Monte Cristo was born out of the distortion from hatred in the dark dungeon. His otherwise meaningless existence was solely supported by his will to revenge. He thought he could act as providence yet eventually it was providence that acted on him. Revenge is a vicious cycle where both parties fall critically injured, yet nobody gets to win – hatred is not going to bring him the consolation he wanted. Instead, the cure to past grievances is never to strike back harder but to forgive and sever the chain of vengeance, as what the Count had done at the end of the story, when he made one of the villains suffer and repent but eventually granted the rogue freedom. No matter how grievous our injustices might be, we need not be fettered to our past. What is of utmost importance is to look forward and explore the brighter sky beyond the storms. Indeed, it may be sometimes difficult or seemingly impossible to move on. But that is what true courage is all about – courage is not about being unafraid, but rather it is to carry on in the face of pain or fear. Nonetheless, though painful reminiscences are infinitely undesirable, occasionally, they are necessary. Such a statement might appear shocking, but a careful second consideration will reveal the other side of the story: for one to truly understand happiness and contentment, one must first experience nastiness. Our world presents itself in a dichotomous and relative manner. It is precisely the stark contrast between the two that makes things around us meaningful. The judgement of “beauty” cannot escape the discussion of what is considered “ugly”. The definition of “virtue” will not be complete if there is no “vice” in response. One will hardly appreciate “happiness” if one has never witnessed or experienced the darkest side of humanity. In the story, just before the Count bestowed all his wealth to a young man he treated as his own son, he intentionally let the young man suffer from sorrow to the point of nearly committing suicide, by not revealing to the latter that his beloved girlfriend, whom the young man thought had already been dead, was in fact saved by the Count and still alive. When the young man realised that the girl was safe, he immediately understood what the Count had done to him: only through painful reminiscences can we fully appreciate our present happiness. But the young couple hardly had time to express gratitude to the Count before he boarded his yacht, only leaving a letter ending with the sentence: “until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words—wait and hope”.