Figurative Language

     The Count of Monte Cristo is a novel that is rich with figurative language. Alexander Dumas uses literary techniques to evoke imagery and emotion which enable the reader to be drawn into the mood of the novel. Examples of  literary devices used are:
 Simile:

•  "Fernand twisted in his chair and wiped away the large beads of sweat which gathered on his forehead like the first raindrops of a storm". (pg19) This gives a sense of the coming storm of troubles. 
•  Dantes" fell like a wounded bird" and "he plunged like an arrow into the icy sea"(pg79)The reader is given the imagery of what it would have felt like for Dantes to be tossed into the sea in a body bag with an iron ball tied around his ankles.
• "the granite giant rose up like a threatening phantom"(pg80) This is Dantes' impression of the Château d'If as he looks back at it, having just escaped.
• "I felt myself driven like a cloud of fire descending from heaven to destroy an accursed city"(pg495) The Count of Monte Cristo describes his need to deliver punishment. 

 Verbal irony:

• "Oh!" cried Dantes, you're more than just, sir; your kindness itself!"(pg29) Dantes exclaims this to Villefort when he burns the letter that would have condemned Villefort's father and helped to prove Dantes' innocence.

                 A Passage that Appeals to Me

     Alexander Dumas uses a particular passage to describe how the Count perceived Paris as a symbol of his struggles with human nature." Paris spread out like a dark sea below, agitates its millions of light like phosphorescent waves; waves more tumultuous, more seething, more furious than those of the angry ocean, waves which never know, like those of the vast sea, waves forever clashing, forever forming, forever engulfing...."(490) I like the imagery that this passage clearly reveals in the mind's eye, that the Count saw how the light of good can be affected by the darkness of evil. The lights being the millions of good people and kind deeds which can be engulfed by the darkness brought on by greed, jealousy, and pride. This is a pessimistic view of human nature yet sadly, true. Though there is potential for corruption in people and for evil we need to stay focused on the light that inherently resides alongside the darkness in the human heart. It is the individual's responsibility to choose good over evil.