Entry Two: Section 1

   As we have already learned, Edmond Dantes is a man of good fortune--at least at first. His world revolves around his work on the boat for Morrel & Sons and his beautiful fiance, Mercedes. On the night of his betrothal feast, a time at which he should be the happiest, he is arrested for what are said to be conspiracy documents. This act is based on the evidence of the letter left to him by his late captain that was to be delivered to the Bonapartist, Noirtier. At the time Dantes does not know that his jealous ship mates, grinding there teeth at the title of captain he was in line for, were the reason he ended up in prison. Nor did he know that the so-called "conspirator leader" Nortier was actually the prison governor, Monsieur Villefort's, father. From the prison he is taken to the dungeon where he makes a transition from depressed to enraged until one day he meets a priest that has built a tunnel from his own cell to Dantes. The priest, Abbes, takes Dante under his wing and Dante becomes almost like a son to him over the next two years. Abbes has his mind set on a treasure that is supposedly been left to him on an island called Monte Cristo. He tells Dantes an elaborate story behind the treasure as proof it exists and forces Dantes to commit the directions to the treasure to memory before dieing of a heart attack. He escapes prison and makes an attempt to swim for the island, being picked up by a ship when he is not quite there. This ship eventually takes him to Monte Cristo after Dantes has grown close with many of the ship mates, specifically Jacibo. Here he finds his treasure yet when he returns to the island after ferrying some of the money back to Marseilles he learns that Mercedes has dissapeared and his father has died. 
   Something that delighted me during this section was the idea that even in the hardest of circumstances, such as being imprisoned, one can care for others and build lasting connections. At the same time it was uplifting to see Dantes escape this prison. I was extremely surprised, and somewhat distraught, that two men would have no trouble at all framing Dantes, ethically speaking that is. If I possessed the knowledge that I had cost a man two years of his life as well as his marriage and spending the last days with his father, I would not be able to live with the guilt. This causes me to question whether the other two crew members knew the complete implications of their accusations before committing them. The story becomes bitter-sweet when our hero finds the treasure yet, at the same time, loses both his father and fiance. Of course I was delighted in his discovery, but saddened by his emotional loss as he procured monetary gain. I find it worse that he lost his loved ones because the money will soon mean nothing to him if he has no one to share it with or build a life based upon it.
   As the book progresses I would predict that Dantes gains a feeling of power from the vast fortune he has just discovered. From this power may stem the thought that he now has the ability to judge those that hurt him, identities at this point in the story that had become all too clear to him. Basing my hunches in human nature, I predict Dantes will attempt revenge on his accusers. He may even do this by framing them for a similar political action just so they can feel exactly the way he felt when placed under those circumstances. I also think he will do something generous with his money such as make a financial donation to Morrell. With his father, the priest and fiance gone, Morrell is really the only man left who means anything to him. In Dantes mind, he is the man who offered him immense opportunity and a bright future.