As John Ford, an American director, once said: “Vengeance turns out to be its own executioner.” In other words, the person who seeks revenge often gets so deeply bogged down that he ends up doing more harm than good. In Alexandre Dumas' novel The Count of Monte Cristo, Dantes is exploited by people he thought were his friends. He was accused of committing a crime he did not commit by his so-called friends and was imprisoned for many years because of this accusation and because it would benefit his prosecutor if he did so. He realizes that the legal system will do nothing to help him and that he must take justice into his own hands. However, Dantes' view of justice is filled with his hatred towards his enemies, and therefore justice for him is more akin to revenge. If Dantès manages to take revenge, it is not without a heavy price. Through Dantes, his story and the mistakes he made, the lesson of the importance of forgiveness is conveyed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay As Dantes has been exploited by people he thought were his friends, he seeks justice for them, but his definition of justice is closer to revenge. Danglars, envious of Dantes' position as captain of the ship, The Pharaon, wrote a letter providing evidence and reasons to arrest Dantes. Fernand, envious of Mercédès's love for Dantès, gives the public prosecutor the letter written by Danglars. Villefort, a greedy judge with evil intentions and ambitions, ordered Dantes' incarceration even though Dantes did nothing that could justify his incarceration. These three people presumed to be friends of Dantès took advantage of him, leading Dantès to take revenge on them. Father Faria, Dantès' inmate who helped him escape, reveals the nefarious intentions of the three alleged friends behind Dantès' arrest, then declares: "I regret having helped you clarify your past and for telling you what I did... Because I instilled in your heart a feeling that did not exist before: revenge Father Faria realizes too late that by helping. Dantès discovering the reasons for his imprisonment, he transformed Dantès from an innocent sailor into a being driven only by revenge. The expression "instilled in your heart" expresses that Dantès is completely changed as a person. Abbé Faria is not the only one to realize that Dantès's quest for revenge was changing him. As Monte Cristo, one of Dantès's many pseudonyms, declared to Villefort: "I have always heard of the. Providence, but I've never seen it or anything like it, which makes me think it doesn't exist. I want to be Providence, because the greatest, most beautiful and most sublime thing I know in this world is to reward and punish. Monte Cristo realizes and embraces the thirst for revenge rooted within himself. The term "sublime" shows that the most important thing for him is to reward those who did not betray him and to take revenge on those who betrayed him. He reveals that if he had all the power in the world and could basically do whatever he wanted, payback and revenge would be the two most important things to him. He recognizes the absence of the existence of a God, which leads him to discern that the only way for him to acquire his vengeance is to act in God's place himself. This further shows how necessary he considers it to be to punish those who have wronged him. If Dantès succeeded in taking revenge, it was not without price. Dantès could have bankrupted Danglars, led Villefortto the brink of madness and drive Fernand to suicide, but in doing so he harmed many innocent lives along the way. As Dantès declares to Danglars when confronting him about his misdeeds: "I am the man whom you have betrayed and dishonored, the man whose fiancée you have. fortune, the man whose father you starved to death, the man whom you condemned to starve but who now forgives you because he himself needs to be forgiven: I am Edmond Dantès !' Dantès states that he himself needs to be forgiven, proving that while he may have punished Danglars, he made decisions and actions along the way that he now regrets. By forgiving Danglars even after acknowledging all the wrongdoings Danglars committed against him, it further shows that Dantès realizes his mistakes and even tries to repent for them. As Monte Cristo says: “Arriving at the peak of his vengeance after his slow and tortuous ascent, he looked into the abyss of doubt.” Monte Cristo admits that he finally got his revenge after much perseverance. However, by stating that he dove into the abyss of doubt, it shows that he had doubts about whether revenge was the right choice. This shows how he realizes that the lives he hurt in his quest, like that of little Edward, were worth more than his revenge, and how he regrets his quest for revenge. Furthermore, the use of the terms "peak" and "slow and tortuous" demonstrate how Dantes was severely affected, exhausted and mentally distressed by his quest for revenge, but still being able to realize that his actions were wrong even after taking into account how exhausted and mentally distressed he was shows how truly changed Dantès is as a person, going from someone driven by revenge to realizing the terrible mistakes someone has caused , the result of losing a piece of himself after achieving revenge. Dumas uses Dantes' regret. in his actions motivated by revenge as an example of the importance of forgiveness. By not forgiving and giving in to bitter and reckless emotions, Dantes hurt many lives, including himself. As Monte Cristo says: “He realized that he had gone beyond the limits of just revenge and that he could no longer say: “God is for and with me.” Monte Cristo declares this just after witnessing the result of his actions: the death of little Edward. This statement shows how, by not forgiving and taking revenge, he performed actions that he later regretted, thus revealing the importance of forgiveness. This shows how Dantes ultimately realized that choosing to act like God and punish those he saw fit was a terrible idea. Furthermore, this statement proves how naive Dantes was in his quest for revenge, which took over his life and humanity. He was so naive that he thought that God supported his acts of vengeance even though God is a symbol of purity and peace, and it took the physical sight of the result of his actions, the death of little Édouard, for Dantes to finally understands that what he was doing was wrong, that God was not with him and that his innocence had been corrupted for a long time. The Monte Cristo Declaration shows how Dumas emphasizes the importance of forgiveness to readers by revealing the potential for self-corruption and degeneration that one could cause and suffer if he does not forgive and leave behind Thoughts like revenge reside in his mind. As Dantès says, “God only knows that I leave from now on without hatred or pride, but not without regret.” This statement shows that Dantès recognizes his mistakes and regrets them. By being empty of hatred and pride, he demonstrates that Dantes.