Identity in The Count of Monte Cristo

781 Words2 Pages

Identity in The Count of Monte Cristo An identity is more than just a name. Sometimes an identity is the first thing and possible the only thing a person notices about one or the other. A person's identity can represent their culture, their race and sometimes, even possible their family background. My identity is what represents me. For those who does not know me personally but knows my name, knows my identity. This identity is what people will recognize me as for now and possible for ever. When people create different identities, it may be to distort reality. People may create identities to fulfill fantasies or just to impersonate others(in other words, distorting reality). Everyone has done it whether it was from acting in a skit or creating a false photo identification card or just giving someone a fake name. All of those above are different ways of distorting reality and different ways of changing an identity. "The Count of Monte Cristo" is a book which contains few characters but many identities. Edmond Dantes if not the main character, than one of the main characters kind of has a reality dysfunctional problem. In the book, Edmond Dantes creates various identities to fulfill his missions(fantasies). One of the few characters that Edmond Dantes transformed into was Sinbad the Sailor. At the beginning of the book, while Edmond was still Edmond Dantes, he work and pursued his career on a ship. The guy at which he worked for soon became in debt because his shipping business was going out of business. Edmond Dantes payed off this shipping guys debt under the name as Sinbad the Sailor. Edmond accomplished this mission under a different name so his former boss wouldn't know that Edmond Dantes was really the bill savior that Sinbad the Sailor has became. Edmond Dantes changed his identity to pursue, perhaps a fantasy. Edmond wanted to give back to those who gave to him. He changed his identity for the better. He changed it to help out instead of to destroy. Edmond Dantes also took on the identity as a Priest. I would say Edmond miss used the power of a priest because he used his power and the trust of others within him and gather information out of individuals. Most people have trust for priest and Edmond Dantes knew this as he accomplished the transformation from himself to the priest.

Open Document