Theme Of Suffering In The Count Of Monte Cristo

Famous for American sculpture, Kahlil Gibran once posited that “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” In The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Edmond Dantes, the protagonist, undergoes a significant amount of suffering. He is falsely accused of treason and imprisoned in the Chateau d’If for 14 years because of his loyalty to Captain Leclere. Dantes grows more ambitious and eager day by day to seek vengeance to those who made him suffer. Throughout the novel, Dantes uses different identities to bring justice to the people he has seen daily. Therefore, it is clear that Dantes experiences the greatest suffering in the novel through his loss, grief, and betrayal, and undergoes

a significant amount of change as he faces these obstacles.
To begin, Dantes comes across his first obstacle of loss as his dear father passes while he is imprisoned.

Dantes takes on the identity of Abbé Busoni while talking to Caderousse, and as they talk about Edmond’s father, Caderousse says that he died of starvation. Because he wasn’t “Dantes” at the moment, he didn’t show on the outside that he took it to heart and simply said, “A sad, sad tragedy!” (104). Inside, because Dantes’ father is the only person he cares for in the same blood line, he takes it more to heart that his own father passed away. This proves that Dantes stays strong even though it is one of the hardest times in his life. One of his greatest friends, Abbé Faria also dies of catalepsy. After he is left with a corpse, “overmastering terror seized him; he dared press no more the hand that hung down from the bed,” (78). Dantes was mortified and didn’t know what to do next. After living like father-like-son, he was scared and was scarred in loss. This shows that Dantes has to overcome two deaths in the novel. For Abbé, Dantes wanted to find the treasure, but for his dad, he wanted for Caderousse, Fernand, and Danglars to pay the

price.
Moreover, he comes across another obstacle, grief. Dantes finds out he is sentenced to life in prison because of Fernand, Caderousse, and Danglars. Because Abbé helps him discover the identities, Abbé regrets it “because I have instilled into your heart a feeling that previously held no place there-vengeance,” (62). Now, with “14 years to the very day,”(86), Dantes changes grief to revenge. 14 years of questioning about why he got held captive was answered because of Abbe’s logic. After nearly four years without seeing the real-world, he is intrigued by the thought of death. He says, “I will die,” (49). His plan was to throw away the food the gaoler gives him out through the window. He first thinks he is better off gone because of how much time he has been spending in prison, but thinks otherwise later because he is focused on how far he has come. All this pain has gotten him to the place where he is at now.
Lastly, with the help of Abbé, he finds out he was betrayed by the people whom he considered his friends.

He is betrayed by Danglars, Fernand, and Caderousse for their own will and happiness in life. After the arrest, Danglars speaks to himself saying “So far everything is succeeding wonderfully.... I am already temporary captain, and if that fool of a Caderousse can be persuaded to hold his tongue, I shall soon have the job for good and all, “(21). This example shows that Danglars was the main person who wanted him gone badly. After finding this out, Dantes develops his character and becomes a stronger person inside. He becomes vengeful and is willing to go any limit to seek revenge. He then gets betrayed again by the love of his life, Mercédes. When Mercédes was talking with Fernand in the beginning of the book, she says “I will always love him as long as I live. If he is dead then I shall die too,” (11). After Dantes escapes the Chateau d’If, he finds out Mercedes betrayed him for Fernand. This states that Mercedes left Dantes for a different man, meaning that what Mercédes previously said was not true and Dantes got betrayed by her. After finding out Mercedes is married to Fernand, he grows more ambitious to seek revenge to

Fernand.
Overall, Dantes experiences a lot of hardships until now, and may come across more later on, but he does overcome his situations to make him a stronger and bolder person. He is, like most protagonists, the person to suffer the most, but he controls himself in a way and gives revenge with killing with kindness. Prison is usually the time to think about what you’ve done wrong, but for Dantes, he didn’t have much to think about because he didn’t do anything for the arrest. Before Dantes went to prison, he was too nice and never thought negatively, but after the Chateau d’If, he became more revengeful and revealed the negative side of him. Edmond Dantes struggled so much to get where he is now, but he is now a better character and a person thanks to Danglars!