Redemption

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Redemption is a word that contains various meanings. It could be referring to forgiveness, or recovery. Perhaps an escape from something. It is something that everybody yearns for, but cannot quite grasp in their hands. It is not something that we can look for and find. In fact, redemption often comes our way on its own when we expect it the least. Three characters from three stories go through different conflicts and redeem themselves in ways they never would have guessed. Some even found redemption with the help of others. Guy Montag from the novel Fahrenheit 451 finds redemption through freedom and liberation. The lawyer in the short story The Bet redeems himself by way of recovery. Edmond Dantes achieved his redemption through deception. These three characters redeem themselves in different ways, but something they all share is that they all go through the process of redemption and become reformed in some way. Guy Montag, the protagonist in the novel Fahrenheit 451, was stuck in a time when society was set to one standard. Montag had been living by his society’s “rules” which ultimately required everyone had to live and act the same. Any variance from the “rules” or standards would be considered abnormal and wrong. Montag’s journey on the path of redemption began the day that he met a seventeen year old girl named Clarisse McClellan. With the help of Clarisse, Montag transforms himself from a thoughtless machine into a free spirited intellectual. When the old lady burns herself up with the books is when Montag realizes that burning books is completely wrong and that his society is messed up. The old lady said before she burned was “Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in Englan... ... middle of paper ... ...would have never escaped from jail, and would have never had any chance to redeem himself. Dantes completed his redemption when he accomplished his revenge on Danglars, Fernand and Villefort; the men who betrayed him. Redemption comes in many forms, and for the characters Guy Montag, “The lawyer”, and Edmond Dantes, redemption came in diverse forms to each of them. Redemption without a doubt was the part of the theme for all three of these stories. Each one of these characters was shaped and transformed in some way by redemption. Without redemption being a catalyst in each story, the plot and outcome of each would have been significantly different. Although each character’s redemption was achieved in different ways, they all gained some type of fulfillment from it. Works Cited Bradbury, Ray. “Fahrenheit 451.” New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks 2013.

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