The novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas is heavily influenced by Dumas’ own life. Dumas’ upbringing was an essential key in creating the characters of the story. Him and many people involved in his early life are extremely similar to the characters of the novel. Also, many events from his life helped to shape the story. His upbringing during the French revolution set the background for the novel that takes place in post-revolutionary France. Additional to the fact that some characters of the novel are similar to people in Dumas’ life, some of the characters mentioned are in fact real people. Finally, Dumas repeatedly alludes to several famous works including Arabian Nights. He also alludes to the Bible countless times in the novel. Dumas’ life experiences played a major role in inspiring some of the characters of the novel. For starters, Dumas was the invalid child of a black slave and aristocrat (Reiss). This is portrayed in the novel by the invalid child Villefort tries to kill on the night of its birth knowing he would be criticized for having it. Another example is the protagonist Dantes himself. His “rags to riches” experience is very like Dumas’ own life. Dumas’ father, Antoine, put him into the slave trade by his father to be able to afford his trip to France to claim his inheritance. Once he claimed …show more content…
In Dumas’ life, his newly found skills also proved importance when he went into the French army. Another example of Dumas’ life experiences that influenced the stories plot involve his imprisonment. In the novel, imprisoned for a crime he had not committed and spent many years in the political, island prison Château d’If. In Dumas’ life, towards the end of the revolution, he was mistaken for the leader of French forces and he was falsely imprisoned. He too spent many years in a political prison for a crime he never committed
In the story “The Count of Monte Cristo”, there is also a meaning full theme to the story too. The story talks about a man named Edmond who hears noises in his jail cell, then wonders who is making the noise, why they are making
"I think you're rotten," says Yvette at the end of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, "I wish you were dead" (Richler 318). This sentiment is echoed throughout a substantial amount of the criticism of Mordecai Richler's tale. At best, we question whether Duddy has learned anything during his apprenticeship; at worst, we accuse him of taking a tremendous step backwards, of becoming an utterly contemptible human being. When Duddy steals money from his friend and admirer, Virgil, to pay for the final parcel of land around Lac St. Pierre, it may seem that he has sunk to a low from which he may never recover; but careful consideration of the events leading up to the theft, the turn of events after it, and finally, Duddy's emotional reaction to both Yvette's anger and Simcha's disappointment indicates that Duddy is not the monster that he is frequently made out to be.
After reading Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, I observed that both these texts share a few similarities in the way the authors portray the difficulties their characters have to face, in order to get to where they are now. After researching a few rags to riches stories and using Slumdog Millionaire and The Pursuit of Happyness as my primary sources, I found out that successful individuals from harsh backgrounds shared similar complications, yet they had the will and perseverance to get to where they are now. They faced difficulties such as dealing with poverty and hardships of everyday life, struggling to overcome the effects of addiction and abuse. They found ways to overcome these difficulties through things like having some form of education, and utilizing their knowledge, to manipulate opportunities to their advantage in order to bring about success.
When considering In Cold Blood, the reader must take into account that Capote is not inventing people, he is conveying the lessons and experiences of real people. This style is not the norm because it is not the standard challenge of a novelist. However, by carefully selecting detail in describing the various personalities involved in the crime, Capote passes facts of all the characters to the reader in an easily understood fashion.
There is no doubt that when bad things happen to people, they want to reflect their misery on others whom they think caused it, which is exactly what happened with Edmond Dantes, a once innocent man who became consumed by hatred.
“But unlike his father, the son of this industrious man was such a lazybones that in the whole wide world there was none to equal him” from A Rupee Earned by I.F Bulatkin. All will have to confront a life-changing event that alters one’s path, and this concept doesn’t exclude the son in A Rupee Earned or me. In the story, a father teaches his son a life lesson with one simple action. The father required his son to earn only one single rupee in return for him passing down his inheritance, yet his son is reluctant to complete said task. Despite this bargain being totally in the son’s favour, he still refuses to cooperate, showing injudicious behaviour. He simply needs to labour for a week, then he can continue to be lazy for the rest of his life.
Dumas uses the archetype of the byronic hero to demonstrate that one’s suffering doesn’t give the right to seek revenge. A byronic hero is a protagonist that isn’t virtuous, but rather possesses many negative qualities. He is passionate about a particular issue and has intellectual capabilities that far surpass the average man. Often, a byronic hero is arrogant and self-centred. (Marinetti) In the novel, the byronic hero is portrayed by the character of the Count of Monte Cristo. The Count undertakes a quest to take revenge on those who have betrayed him. “He vowed that same implacable oath of revenge […] against Danglars, Fernand and Villefort.” (Dumas 212) The Count’s drive is the fact that he’ll get vengeance. He is so determi...
...e Winter’s Tale, The Great Gatsby and The Remains of the Day one of the most significant lessons to be learnt is that anyone from the jealous king, to the hedonistic socialite, to the strictly dutiful servant can suffer at their own hand and fall victim to the flaws of their own character. It is a universal phenomenon, which was originally defined by Aristotle, which is consistent from the plays of Shakespeare to the works of contemporary authors.
...iod when Camus writes this novel. Camus obviously knew the time period and explored different ideas and philosophies about pointless of life in people which comes out in his character, Meursault. In prison Meursualt also realizes that he’s trapped, and there’s no way out as he remembers what the nurse once said to him. His growth in self reflection results in unimportance of emotional values of life and help focus what’s directly ahead of him. This significant change results him in understanding himself and his voice, and figuring out his capabilities and philosophies. Time spent in prison helps Meursault finally understands himself, the meaninglessness of life, and the unimportance of time which shows the shift in the character after sent to prison.
Revenge is best served cold or so says the well-known expression. This idea of revenge that they seek is usually to restore a balance and take an “eye for an eye” as the bible says. Revenge, if by chance everyone were in Plato’s perfect utopia, would be in a perfect form, where justice and revenge would be one, and the coined phrase an “eye for an eye” would be taken literally. By taking an eye for and eye, and punishing those who did wrong equally as they did wrong, there is justice. However, this revenge sometimes goes to far and is consequently not justice. This notion of Revenge and justice is often in literature, one of the better-known being the novel The Count of Monte Cristo, written by Alexandre Dumas. However, literature is not the only time that revenge and justice is discussed in. Works and Rules and real-life events that took place like the Bible, Hammurabi’s code, Twelve Tables, and others each have something different about the topic. More religious texts seem to forbid violence, while laws, such as the Hammurabi’s code, recommend revenge, but equal revenge. By judging from literature, it can be concluded that most authors have different opinions on the matter at hand, and revenge is sometimes justice, but usually not, and tends to lead to violence that was not intended.
His pursuit of riches destroys himself and lets him completely dismiss other people’s attempts in improving one’s happiness in life. Because allowing the poor to move up the social ladder is not allowed, helping a poor person do so is considered disgusting or disgraceful by the rich. In The Great
The story is set in first person where an unnamed narrator serves as a character that exists for the sole reason of illustrating the abilities of Dupin's mind. Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin is the main problem solver of the story, a gentleman from an aristocratic family but is reduced to poverty. As the narrator tells the story, certain thought processes are kept from the reader until L'Auguste Dupin reveals the facts. The reader only sees and knows the facts the investigators and narrators do. In doing so, the story is more suspenseful of the reader, and the conclusion takes the reader by surprise.
For example, emotional hardship from wealth is often shown in Fitzgerald’s works. In The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway is reflecting on Gatsby’s life: “Gatsby turned out alright in the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men”(4). Nick saw Gatsby as a person who wanted to reach his “American Dream”. Gatsby was made to believe if he had fame and money, he could have Daisy. In reality, Gatsby became unhappy with his money because it couldn’t buy Daisy’s love.
These characters are developed to have common traits with the historical persons. Jean- Michel was a medical student and a communist, traits that are common to those of the author, Jacques Alexis. Pierre Round’s character traits and life experiences in the book closely match those of Jacues Roumain who was arrested and later went into exile. The character Paturault has a common life with Elie Lescot who in real life became the president of Haiti in 1946. These characters whose traits are the same as those of real historical persons have been used in the book to create and portray what the author was viewing at his time and wanted to address.
Here is a story where Oedipus the King, who has accomplished great things in his life, discovers that the gods were only playing with him. He has everything a man of that time could want; he is king of Thebes, he has a wonderful wife and children, and great fame through out the lands. He has lived a good life, but in the end everything is taken from him.