Power In The Count Of Monte Cristo

There is a famous quote by David Brin which states: “It is said that power corrupts. But actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.” This quote means that not everyone can be corrupted, but sometimes, people are too weak to handle the pressure. Additionally, power comes in many forms, but one way that really stands out is when it boils down to influence on other people. Furthermore, in real life and in novels, power often corrupts people and characters. In both the novels Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, power has the ability to bring out the worst qualities in human nature in the antagonists, a concept that can be also be applied.

Right near the beginning of the story, the instance of imagery is found. One example, an unbroken front of snarled and ragged jungle fringed the shore (Connell 20), is a phenomenal use of imagery, as it creates a vivid image in the reader’s mind. Richard Connell does an adequate job of conjuring thoughts of a thick, wild, and scary jungle just beckoning for someone to come in. The river of glaring gold light that poured out (Connell 20) is a powerful use of imagery, as it uses descriptors such as glaring, gold, and poured. Connell almost makes it seem like the light materialized as it came out of the door, which makes it very interesting to read and picture. The author was very efficient in his use of imagery because the descriptors painted a very clear picture. Imagery is just the icing on the cake because it adds so much quality and description to the

Edmond Dantès, the main character of The Count of Monte Cristo, is an innocent and unsuspecting young man who is thrown in jail by those who were jealous of him. Once Edmond escaped, he changed his identity to the Count of Monte Cristo, and plotted a harsh revenge against his enemies. At the beginning, he said “Happiness is like one of those palaces in fairy tales whose gates guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it.” (Dantes 18) He thinks that his marriage with Mercédès is too good to be true, according to his statement. As it turned out, it was, and he was put in prison for fourteen years, and it was fifteen years before he saw her again. The only thing Edmond sought after he escaped from jail was revenge. So he took

The works I have studied and will be exploring in this essay are Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’ and Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’. In ‘Frankenstein’ the abuse of power is most clearly exhibited by the protagonist of the story Frankenstein himself, his abuse of power results in his isolation and could serve as a warning to people, telling them not to play with forces that they can not control. In ‘Heart of Darkness’, Conrad abuses his power as the author to distance himself from the novella and in a sense absolve himself from any racist criticism the book may induce. The abuse of power is also a key theme in the novella itself. Firstly there is a sense of hypocrisy in

Oftentimes, to further their lifestyles, people hide behind a fictitious version of themselves. Eventually, one finds their mind twisting and turning, detracted and dismembered, unable to bear the gravity and distress of their conflicting personas. Take, for example, the character Macbeth in the play Macbeth, who to remand power reveals his true unstable persona while continuing to maintain a virtuous one to the public which results in a tyrannical dominance of his instability. Because of Macbeth’s actions, Scotland is thrown into chaos when his unstable personality completely dominates him and leads to his demise at the hands of rebels affected by his greedy and indecent actions. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses light and darkness imagery to convey how Macbeth’s ambition and greed led to corruption, signifying the negative societal effects tyrants have because of their greed and ambition.

Images projected into readers minds can transform the meaning and tone of a passage. In Beller’s narrative, he implements the vision of chaos into their minds furthering the acceptance of the tone: “Cop cars parked at odd angles, their red sirens spinning. The policemen were waving their arms, shouting…” (Beller, 60). The illustration of the police force and their actions additionally enforces the tone of the

Power isn't always embraced and can be lost. In the Count of Monte Cristo, Dantes goes from having no power to having no power to a lot of power. If power is embraced you can use it for good or bad. “He bent double and cut the rope just as he rose to the surface of the sea. He paused to take a deep breath, then dived again to avoid being seen” (Dumas 80). “I used to rule the world, seas would rise when I gave the word” (Martin 1-2). In the Count of Monte Cristo, the author Dumas uses the words “rose to the surface of the sea” as a rebirth experience to the audience. Dumas uses diction in the book to convey the messages more broad to show more power. In the song “Viva la Vida” Martin uses the words “ never an honest word” he uses these words to show how everyone lied to him. Chris Martin uses the diction in his lyrics to convey a more powerful song. Without the

Neal Shusterman effectively uses imagery to create suspense in his novel, Full Tilt. “ All at once the train swung around an outside curve, its riders screaming with joy, completely unaware of my idiot brother directly in their path”(Shusterman 8). This quote from Full Tilt is an example of imagery because, it is showing how Quinn is on the track of the roller coaster, and the coaster was probably going to hit Quinn.This quote creates suspense by showing how Blake’s brother could’ve gotten hit or killed if he hadn’t grabbed him off the tracks, and that leaves the readers thinking, what’s going to happen. “ I could see the very top of a Ferris wheel rising above the fog, churning the moonlit mist like a riverboat paddle”

If you have ever read the book The Crucible, then you should know that some people abuse their power. Some people abuse their power simply because they like to be in control. A perfect example of a person that abuses their power is Abigail Williams. She used her power for evil and for vengeance, she was jealous of Elizabeth Proctor because Abigail was in love with John Proctor, Elizabeth’s husband.

This is shown in many places throughout history and recreated in fiction. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night gives an example of abuse of power when Franek, the foreman of the depot Wiesel worked in, used his authority to bully Wiesel into giving him his gold crown by attacking his father. “This went on for two weeks. It was untenable. We had to give in. That day, Franek burst into savage laughter.” (pg 56) Franek knew that he could target Wiesel’s father without getting in trouble, so he was able to get what he wanted by the use of his power. Lord of the Flies by William Golding also shows how power corrupts people. When Jack became the chief of his own group, he and his accomplice, Roger, gained almost complete power over the boys on the island. They were able to do what they pleased, including hurting other people. “The chief snatched one of the few spears that were left and poked Sam in the ribs… The prodding became rhythmic. Sam yelled… Roger edged past the chief, only just avoiding pushing him with his shoulder. The yelling ceased, and Samneric lay looking up in quiet terror. Roger advanced upon them as one wielding a nameless authority.” (pg 182) Jack and Roger used their power over other boys to scare SamnEric into joining their “tribe”. Similarly to Franek, Jack and Roger inflict physical harm upon others to get their way, proving that those in power become abusive of their lack of

A perfect example of how power has a negative effect on others would be King Creon in Anitigone. In Anitogue she tries to bury her own brother Polynices. But King Creon stated that anyone who tries to bury him will be killed. This shows that the king has absolute power over the people and is willing to kill Antigone over her trying to bury her own brother. This also shows that the peasants have no power and have if they don't follow the rules they will be punished. These examples prove that power has a negative effect on others because whoever is in charge has absolute power over the people.

Love and tragedy come together neither can be separated from each other. The violence of the past can arouse from the dead, and eat alive a new life. Indeed, replacing a tragedy with another one is harmful, but it brings peace at the end. Violence is a very complex term that brings up the darkness of the human world, whether physical or mental, it attacks both ways. In the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, author Junot Diaz employs the theme that in the wrong hands, power leads to violence, which can produce both exterior and interior pain, ultimately causing destruction or even death. Through aphorism, euphemism, direct characterization, realism, anadiplosis, appeal to emotion and anecdotes, Diaz defines the non-existent limits of evil in

Imagery is a very important aspect of literature. Many different types of imagery exist and there is at least one dramatic purpose for each image. By analyzing William Shakespeare's

Throughout this last semester the units we have been learning have all show the use of power against innocent people. This power either ruins these people's lives or ends them. The best representation of this power are in the two poems Trumpet Player and Song for a Dark Girl by Langston Hughes. Two stories were also fantastic examples of this power, The Crucible By Arthur Miller and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. All though theses are three different types of writers, they have very similar messages in different forms.

In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel and the short story The Breakaway the two authors use of imagery is similar because they both show how the events taking place look, add great detail into them, and show how the reader feels during the event. An example of this similarity in The Breakaway is “justin just laid in bed with his leg in a long cast feeling like a broomstick…justin blew up like a balloon as watched his once bright future fadeaway.” the imagery in The Breakaway helps to create tone. An example of this in Night is “the old men stayed in their corner, silent, motionless, hunted-down creatures.” the imagery Night uses makes tone.