Monte Cristo Themes

In the movie The Count of Monte Cristo there are many themes that are parallel to events in the Bible. The three I’m going to focus on are betrayal, friendship, and vengeance. When the movie opens, Fernand and Edmond had been best friends for the entirety of their youth. Yet despite this, Fernand chooses to betray his friend to gain something he selfishly wanted. In the meantime, Edmond never committed the crime he was accused of, leading him to a false sentence in Chateau d’If prison. This is like Jesus walking through his life knowing his one friend, Judas, would eventually betray him. Judas received gold for his selfish want, while Jesus was crucified for a crime he never committed. Fernand, like Judas and many people today, would do anything
to get what they want. Along with Edmond, like Jesus and other people today, in the end they are falsely accused by the person they shared their own life with. These acts of betrayal are so painful because not only is one party innocent, but they are also someone you trusted. Secondly, another point is friendship. Edmond is introduced to Priest Abbe Faria because the priest dug a hole up to Edmond’s cell. This priest acknowledges that Edmond lost his faith in Christ, but he still chose to be Edmond’s friend. Along with Abbe Faria had a well-educated life, he shares his knowledge with Edmond. In the Bible, Jesus cares for anyone as a friend no matter what they think or did to him. As well as Jesus was a teacher to his students and he gave the people knowledge of an eternal freedom. When someone feels unwanted this doesn’t make friendships in life, so there should be more people like Abbe Faria. Everyone should accept people in love even if they may not have the same beliefs. Also, the knowledge people have should be shared among those who may not understand because this brings an understanding to their world. In addition, Edmond states at the end of the movie, “This I promise you and God, all that was used for vengeance, will now be used for good...” Initially, Edmond seeks out his vengeance upon the people who were responsible for his false imprisonment.
Eventually though he turns towards the words of the priest that tell him to turn away from the vengeance in his heart. At the end of the movie, Fernand never took his chance at Edmond’s offer to escape, so Edmond has to fight for his life. A Biblical parallel to this scene is when Saul goes on a trip to Damascus to execute Christians. While on his journey he encounters Jesus, after this encounter he becomes Paul the apostle. Sometimes people have to walk through the hardships in life to get to the true meaning of why vengeance is not always the answer. These people can seek justice while they obey the laws set in place today, but in return the person falsely accused shows mercy on his attacker. However, there are times when the attacker won’t give up the innocent so both must fight to one’s death. Throughout this thrilling movie three themes are displayed that relate to the Bible. This movie captures betrayal of a friend, different beliefs, and peace at the end of the movie. I believe that this world today has a character similar to each one in the movie. The world needs to see the true way in the meaning of betrayal, accepting each other’s differences, and knowing that God will show justice to people when their time has
come.