Period+6---questions+9,10

 Sarah Rhodes, Ladore Levenson, Zinzi Budd, Savannah Lyons, Amber Fisher

9.) The four main characters in //The Count of Monte Cristo// that lose their will to live and place themselves at the mercy of others are Monsieur Morrel, Maximillien Morrel, Edmond Dantes, and Fernand Mondego. Monsieur Morrel loses his will to live because he is heavily in debt and does not have the money to pay it off. He contemplates suicide because he believes that if he lived his bankruptcy would bring dishonor to his family. Morrel's salvation comes when Sinbad the Sailor pays off his debts. Maximillien Morrel loses his will to live because he thinks Valentine is dead after she takes a medicine to make her appear dead (in order to save her from being murdered by her mother, Madame de Villefort). After almost attempting to shoot himself, Maximillien makes a promise to the Count of Monte Cristo to continue living for one month longer. One month later Maximillien is united with Valentine. Edmond Dantes loses his will to live after being imprisoned at Chateau D’if but soon changes his mind after meeting Abbe Faria, his fellow convict. After discussing his conviction with Faria, Edmond sees an even brighter light at the end of his tunnel (other than having a companion) which was brought on by his will to seek vengeance on all the people who contributed to his imprisonment and eventually succeeds in doing so. Fernand Mondego, unfortunately, does not have a happy ending like some of the other characters and actually kills himself. The reason Mondego killed himself was because his family abandoned him and he thought it would be for his honor if he was dead. Fernand’s family left him because it was revealed that he had killed Ali Pasha and sold Pasha’s wife and daughter into slavery.

10.) The theme of betrayal is present throughout //The Count of Monte Cristo.// Some of these characters who betrayed others were Fernand Mondego, Danglars, Villefort, Benedetto. In the story Fernand, Danglar, and Villefort all betray Edmond Dantes and contribute to his imprisonment. After Edmond is sent to the head prosecutor Danglars writes a letter accusing him of being a Bonapartist and Mondego sends it to the prosecutor leading him to being imprisoned. Villefort also betrays Dantes by destroying the evidence that could have proven him innocent. He destroys this evidence because it was addressed to his father Noirtier and Villefort did not want anyone to know that he was associated with a Bonaparte. Benedetto betrays Caderousse by telling him the floor plan to Monte Cristo's house. Caderousse tries to rob Monte Cristo and fails and is not arrested. When Caderousse left from the Count's house Benedetto, who was supposed to be keeping watch, kills him.

Events, without a doubt, inspire creativity. As the Enlightenment thinker John Locke said, the human mind is like a blank slate and knowledge is gained through experience. Creative thinkers are often inspired by what they hear, see, or experience on a first hand basis. They expand on what they experience and come up with new ideas. On the other hand, it is also reasonable to believe that the works of creative thinkers inspire events such as riots, protests, and overthrowing political leaders because of the radical ideas that they sometimes present. Alexandre Dumas was inspired by the French Revolution when he wrote //The Count of Monte Cristo.// His inspiration can be seen not only in the way that his writing had historical events and references to historical figures, but also in the way that he portrayed the theme of revenge. During the French Revolution Napoleon was known as the usurper and overthrew the monarchy. Later he was imprisoned on the Isle of Elba, but then escaped and reigned again in France. During this time he most likely expelled all the people who had turned on him during the time of his imprisonment. This is similar to how, after being imprisoned, Dantes returned to France and sought revenge on all of the people that turned on him and led to his arrest.