Maddie Dowe    

Literary Analysis

In the stories The Count of Monte Cristo and Blessings, the lesson of freedom and escape is taught. To most people freedom and escape mean to get lost in your thoughts and be free from the things that are bothering them in life. In The Count of Monte Cristo and Blessings, the characters think that escape and freedom mean leaving somewhere or finding a way to escape the reality of life.

In The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes has started to feel that all hope was lost, that he would never have the freedom he once had, and that life wasn’t worth living. Then one night he heard a scratching noise coming from the cell next door to his. “Although weakened, the young mans brain instantly responded to the idea that haunts all prisoners- liberty!” Edmond had started to starve himself. He had started to believe that life wasn’t worth living if he couldn’t be free.  When the scratching began, Edmond started to see life differently than he had before.    “Full of hope, Edmond swallowed a few mouthfuls of bread and water, and, thanks to the vigor of his constitution,  found himself well-nigh recovered.” That one little noise gave Edmond the sense of hope that saved his life. That one little sound gave him the feeling that escape might really be possible and that he might be able to be free again. In Blessings, Jesse and Renee both had felt that their freedom was taken away from them. JESSE : “Renee, I’ve spent a lot of days, nights too wishin’ that things weren’t the way they are.” Jesse doesn’t like the new people who have moved into his town. RENEE : “Being by myself. I understand me when everybody else is lost. (JESSE laughs). Lets go back.” Renee feels that she is lost when everyone is around and knows who they are, but when everyone else is lost and doesn't know who they are, Renee knows exactly who she is and she feels free.

In The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes is on the verge of death until he hears a sound coming from the cell next to his. “Edmond heard a hollow sound in the wall against which he was laying.” Edmond heard the sound and it gave him hope. He saw that escape might be possible and he learned that there is always some hope in any situation, even in the most darkest situations you can always find a ray of hope and freedom. In Blessings, Renee and Jesse are both going through a rough patch in their life. Renee has just moved to Jesse’s hometown from San Raphael. Jesse is having a hard time adjusting to all the strangers that have moved into his town. “RENEE : You’ve got stranger invasion.” Jesse and Renee both needed to adjust to their new lives. They both realized that life is going to throw challenges at them that they will have to accept and they learned that when life throws a challenge in your way, you should try to accept it and something good might come out of it. If Renee never moved to Jesse’s town, they never would have met and become friends.

Although the characters in these stories live in different worlds and in  different situations, they can be brought together by what they learned. They learned that escape and hope can be reached no matter what you are going through, that no matter where you are, you are not alone and that hope and escape are always possible.