I have been thinking the last few days about Edmund Dantes, of Count of Monte Cristo fame. It has segued into the concepts of honesty and truth. The tale covers the span of almost 15 years as Edmund's beliefs about truth vanish with his naivetee and then return as he recognizes that the messages taught him in and by prison actually mean something. Of course, it also helps that Edmund gets out of prison, but if he had not, Dumas might not have become a famous author...
Edmund begins and ends the story with a belief in the power of truth and right. His sortie to the island of Elba, his acceptance of the letter from Napoleon, his conversation with Master Morrell, and his admissions to deVillefort all proceed from a belief that he is honest, that he has nothing to hide. Unlike many of the other characters, Edmund is almost always honest about his intentions, and he goes at things with a single purpose in mind. Edmund suffers from Dantes' Syndrome- he expects right to triumph.
Fortunately for him, and probably because this is a story, he is proven right in the end. Right does triumph. Truth breaks through. Even his own personae comes to a realization that God and Truth, the pillars upon which his decisions early in the novel are built, will set things right in the end.
Unfortunately for us, we are subject to the same kinds of antagonism and agonism from characters in our own lives. Dantes is elevated over Danglars for being true, both to the mission as well as the men instead of too mean of a loyalty to himself. Mercedes picks Dantes over Mondego because he loves her for the right reasons. Even deVillefort at first acknowledges that Dantes is honestly innocent, possessed of a naivetee that put him into harm's way. Each of these feels threatened by him and jealous of him however, and finds in him a convenient scapegoat.
Dantes' Syndrome is a belief that people are honest, true and good, that truth and right will always prevail. Unfortunately, it sets up the people who believe therein to be scapegoats, and if they survive in the Chateau d'Ifs of their own mortal probation, many of them fall victim to its close cousin- cynicism. As his close friends and former fiancee try to reason with him to abandon the self-destructive quest for revenge, he resolutely holds onto hate, which has fueled him, because he lost faith in truth despite his association with Farrier in prison.
Perhaps you have noticed that people are often dishonest, selfish, and deceptive. They are capable of the contrary virtues depending on their choices. I think that people rise to meet our expectations, and so as we treat them as we expect them to be, they will fulfill our expectations. This is why I treat the people I know as best as I can and only reluctantly render them acquaintances after a 'long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object'. I have great hope that men can be encouraged to act upon their better natures if we expect them to and let them know we believe in them. After all, as he dies, Farrier tells Dantes that it does not matter if he believes in God because God believes in him.
Dantes' Syndrome has a cure. It is to speak the truth and be true. CS Lewis wrote that if you take away all that is good in man, you are not left with a bad man; you are left with nothing at all. Men can and will be what they feel encouraged and incentivized to be. Children are anxious to please. It is sad that we lose that as we 'mature'. Look for truth. Expect it. That's how we make the world better.
What the story of Dantes teaches us is that truth can and will prevail. Truth is not just the best policy, it is the only policy.
"By the power of truth, I while living, have conquered the universe." --Faust
Edmund begins and ends the story with a belief in the power of truth and right. His sortie to the island of Elba, his acceptance of the letter from Napoleon, his conversation with Master Morrell, and his admissions to deVillefort all proceed from a belief that he is honest, that he has nothing to hide. Unlike many of the other characters, Edmund is almost always honest about his intentions, and he goes at things with a single purpose in mind. Edmund suffers from Dantes' Syndrome- he expects right to triumph.
Fortunately for him, and probably because this is a story, he is proven right in the end. Right does triumph. Truth breaks through. Even his own personae comes to a realization that God and Truth, the pillars upon which his decisions early in the novel are built, will set things right in the end.
Unfortunately for us, we are subject to the same kinds of antagonism and agonism from characters in our own lives. Dantes is elevated over Danglars for being true, both to the mission as well as the men instead of too mean of a loyalty to himself. Mercedes picks Dantes over Mondego because he loves her for the right reasons. Even deVillefort at first acknowledges that Dantes is honestly innocent, possessed of a naivetee that put him into harm's way. Each of these feels threatened by him and jealous of him however, and finds in him a convenient scapegoat.
Dantes' Syndrome is a belief that people are honest, true and good, that truth and right will always prevail. Unfortunately, it sets up the people who believe therein to be scapegoats, and if they survive in the Chateau d'Ifs of their own mortal probation, many of them fall victim to its close cousin- cynicism. As his close friends and former fiancee try to reason with him to abandon the self-destructive quest for revenge, he resolutely holds onto hate, which has fueled him, because he lost faith in truth despite his association with Farrier in prison.
Perhaps you have noticed that people are often dishonest, selfish, and deceptive. They are capable of the contrary virtues depending on their choices. I think that people rise to meet our expectations, and so as we treat them as we expect them to be, they will fulfill our expectations. This is why I treat the people I know as best as I can and only reluctantly render them acquaintances after a 'long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object'. I have great hope that men can be encouraged to act upon their better natures if we expect them to and let them know we believe in them. After all, as he dies, Farrier tells Dantes that it does not matter if he believes in God because God believes in him.
Dantes' Syndrome has a cure. It is to speak the truth and be true. CS Lewis wrote that if you take away all that is good in man, you are not left with a bad man; you are left with nothing at all. Men can and will be what they feel encouraged and incentivized to be. Children are anxious to please. It is sad that we lose that as we 'mature'. Look for truth. Expect it. That's how we make the world better.
What the story of Dantes teaches us is that truth can and will prevail. Truth is not just the best policy, it is the only policy.
"By the power of truth, I while living, have conquered the universe." --Faust
1 comment:
I agree 100% with you that people will rise to the expectations you set for them. I know that from my work with teenagers in seminary and the precious children I have loved in Primary. It takes commitment, it takes consistency and it takes unconditional love - -but it works. Thanks for sharing these thoughts today.
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