Things Fall Apart

Edmond Dantes and Joseph not only exhibit similarities in their sufferings but also demonstrate their transformation to a judicial person through guidance of a mentor. When Dante is in his lowest point in life, he encounters a revival of hope. With the help of Abbe Faria, Dante endure his hardship and he “learns mathematics, physics, history” (Dumas 49). Abbe Faria is the one person who reveals all the knowledge of this world to Dante so that he would grow wise. However, Dante is imprinted with an attitude of vengeance and hatred. In essence, Abbe Faria is a representative of God who cares and does everything for the good of his disciple. The true transformation of Dantes into a judicial person was when he was “[dragged] to the bottom by a cannon ball [tied] to his feet” (Dumas 66). The cannonball tied to Dantes represents his old and naïve self. When Dantes cuts off the rope holding the cannonball and rises up, his old self dies away in the sea, and he resurrects into a vengeful and judgmental man. This type of baptism reasserts the separation of Dante’s previous life from his new life. Similarly, Joseph’s mentor who protects and guides Joseph was God himself. God deliberately grew Joseph into a fine looking, wise and God-fearing person who wanted to please God himself, not man. Joseph’s transformation comes solely from God’s wisdom which helped Joseph to interrupt dreams and showed his special talents to Pharaoh.  The help of a mentor in Joseph’s and Dante’s life not only alleviate their sufferings but also transform them into a justice-seeking person.

In addition, Joseph’s and Edmond Dante’s transformation lead to a desire to seek retribution from their betrayers. When Dantes goes out of the Chateu d’if, he becomes the Count of Monte Cristo who regards himself to “reward the good and punish the wicked” (Dumas 109). Dantes believes that societal justice allows leeway for some people to escape justice and to be unpunished for their wrongdoings. His belief therefore sparks him to become an agent of Providence who fulfills the role of bringing punishments and revenge to his enemies. However, Dantes’ new attitude toward justice is carried out to the extreme as he hurts other people in the process. Likewise, Joseph demonstrate himself as a judicial individual by seeking retribution from his brothers while not taking vengeance.  Joseph exercises his grace when his brothers recognized their wrongdoings and sought his forgiveness. Joseph make sure justice was sought through his brothers’ repentances, resulting in Joseph’s open arms of forgiveness, kindness and reconciliation. Both Joseph and Dante reveal their character of judicial through their transformation but they show different degrees of justice.

To conclude, Joseph and Dante exhibit transformation from an innocent and naïve person to a judicial individual through betrayals that they faced and help from a guide. Both Dantes’ and Joseph’s sufferings create a yearning of justice but only with the help of the mentor, their character is transformed with justice. This aspect of creating benefits out of suffering is indeed a great feat. However, those who take justice a step further will lose sight of its purpose and fall into the wrong path of revenge.