The human mind and instinct is a special and unique thing. Everyone has a certain outlook on life especially when it comes to their feelings, specifically feelings of hurt, despair, and betrayal. When people are negatively affected we often seek a way to make ourselves feel better. We most commonly call these methods revenge and justice. In The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo or Edmond Dantes, is put in a very hard situation where multiple people have triggered some of the feelings mentioned. He claims he seeks vengeance, but when is it decided that we are seeking revenge or justice? We can try to distinguish between them through different characters such as Fernand, Caderousse, and Villefort and thier encounters with Edmond and with the help of Don’t Confuse Revenge with Justice: Five Key Differences by Leon F Seltzer Ph.D. we can see how it is in the eyes of who is involved whether it is actions done in vengeance or justice. Edmond Dantes started as a respected sailor who was about to become captain and marry his love, Mercedes, upon terrible circumstances he was wrongly accused of treason and cast into prison for fourteen years. While Edmond had been taken away, Mercedes married Fernand. A man who Edmond had hated; a man who, to speak in modern terms, broke …show more content…
They may offend us so deeply we seek some sort of closure for our consciousness. The Count of Monte Cristo demonstrates the different roles of revenge and justice and when certain actions fall under either category. Through Fernand, Caderousse, and Villefort we can see that it is up to the beholder whether revenge or justice is being used. Every story has a different set of perspectives and to some it can be full of vengeful actions and some purely justifying actions that are to right the wrong and to “restore balance” as stated in the Five Key