THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO - CHAPTERS 114-117

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO - CHAPTERS 114-117

It is quiet in the house. Everyone else is still asleep, and I am soaking in the moment of completing this epic classic. I feel as though I have just finished Thanksgiving dinner. I am leaning back in my chair having tasted all the wonderful dishes before me, and I am satisfied. Dumas has satisfied me.

It is time that Danglars is dealt with. He travels to the House of Thomason and French in Rome to withdraw 5 million francs to begin a new life away from Paris. Thinking he has escaped from all his responsibility, creditors, etc, he returns to his hotel to rest, but really he has just become the fly stuck in the center of a spider's web.

Peppino appears on the scene. (The shepherd who was unjustly sentenced to death that Monte Cristo paid the pope for his freedom.) He and the clerk from Thomason and French obviously know each other. It is confirmed that the withdraw has been made by Danglars, and Peppino's job is now to shadow Danglars. Danglars plans to go to Venice and Vienna to withdraw the rest of his money and settle down in Vienna. While traveling in his carriage he is ambushed. At first he thinks he is being extradited back but when he notices they are not in a city he has a recollection of Albert's run-in with a certain group of outlaws. And yes, it is Vampa and his men!

Dumas is a master at setting the scene for us. As Danglars is taken into the lair of the thieves an element of death presents itself everywhere. We have the stone walls that are hollowed out to make coffins that give the appearance of a skull. His cell is deep underground emitting an air of burial. However his bed is just that, a bed. A comfort, a relief in the presence of death.

How about Vampa and his reading material? He is most definitely not your common street thief. There is an air of sophistication, knowledge, and purpose that surrounds him.

Danglars does 2 things - he begins to call on God and he mentally calculates what he thinks he will have to pay to get out of his situation.

What follows in the next days is a constant choice presented to Danglars. You want food? You can have the best, but it will cost you an exorbitant amount. He holds off until he can no longer handle it. Finally we get to the point where his money is gone and he begs for his life. Not freedom, just his life. He experiences hallucinations where he can see an old man dying from starvation (Dantes' father). He repents to a shadowed man. It is, of course, the Count of Monte Cristo who reveals himself as Edmond Dantes. Something has happened to our count. He frees Danglars instead of killing him or driving him mad. He takes Danglars to the brink, and we know this because Danglars sees his reflection in water and his hair is snowy white from stress and terror, but he does not kill him. Dantes let's him go. His quest for revenge is over. What will he do with his life now?

One more job awaits - Morrel and October 5th. Morrel arrives at the Island of Monte Cristo and we know in a short time that the sadness and melancholy has not left him. He has come to die as he says, " in the arms of a friend." Maximilian notices a light heartedness to the count he has never seen before. However, their conversation is one of death - the pain of it, is there no one he will miss, not even the count, but there is no swaying Maximilian from his intended plan. So the count prepares the poison and gives a spoonful to Maximilian, but then he prepares to take a spoonful himself. Immediately Maximilian cries out to him how wrong it would be for him to kill himself. He loves and is loved. Maximilian injests his spoonful and we go through the process of his "death " - the loss of mobility, speech, and the appearance of his love Valentine. Except Valentine is not an angel. She is alive . The count tells Valentine that she and Maximilian must never be separated, because Maximilian would leap into his grave. We also get this glimpse of the count's soul as he hope that God will "credit him" with the saving of these two lives.

As Maximilian is out Haydee enters the room. The count tells her that he is restoring her father's fortune to her, and he prepares to leave. Haydee cannot believe it. They have fallen in love, but the count can hardly believe that Haydee could love him and would die without him. So, a second chance at love is given to the count. A chance to forget what he so desperately needs to forget. They sail away together.

Maximilian awakens, thinks he has been tricked until his beloved Valentine explains everything. We end with a letter from the count to Maximilian. He must wait to wed Valentine until they see her grandfather. He wants to give his blessing. (remember the letter delivered to the "old man?") Maximilian wonders if they will ever see him again to which Valentine responds with the words of all human wisdom "wait and hope!"

Wow, this is a long post, but I wouldn't do this book justice if I didn't reflect back for a moment on what Dumas is telling us through his novel. There are definitely the main themes of revenge/justice, and identity. I don't think you need me to add to what we already know. However, I am going to put in hope. There is a thread of hope that runs through this entire book that comes to full fruition at the end. Sometimes that hope was just putting one foot in front of the other in the next opportunity that arose without knowing what the end result would be for the count. Life application now - We all encounter wrongs and difficulties in our lives. They may not be to the depth of the count's, but each one of us will be or has been wronged. There is a price to pay when we choose revenge on our own terms. We see the count's transformation from his own control to submitting to God. (We do see glimpses of the old count pop up from time to time, but he believes he is carrying out God's plan by following the path laid before him.) Once the job is done, God doesn't leave it there. He gives the count a new chance at life and at love. We go from a life of revenge to a life that has been redeemed. It has value and purpose going forward. That is the story for each of us if we so choose. That is what I am taking away from The Count of Monte Cristo!

Thank you for traveling the road of The Count of Monte Cristo with me!