Extended Essays 2021

Part 3: Dialogue

In The Count of Monte Cristo and The Lies of Locke Lamora , the authors utilize dialogue to position the protagonists as God-like, which acts to justify their violent actions. They do this by accrediting testimonies suggesting that Dantès and Lamora have transcended the regular human to others and the protagonists themselves. Furthermore, the character's egoism extends, in the case of Dantès to the symbol of Elixir, and for Lamora, his companion Jean Tannen. The portrayal of the protagonists’ arrogance through the symbols of Elixir and Jean Tannen is further exemplified through dialogue in which Dumas and Lynch suggest that Dantès and Lamora have superhuman powers. This is apparent as the elixir is positioned to have the power to bring back and take life; although it is later revealed that the elixir is fraudulent, thus rejecting the link that Dantès has with God. Contrary to this, in The Lies of Locke Lamora , Lamora’s powers are genuine and are presented through Lamora’s friend Jean Tannen. However, the authority to take life is held by God himself (Graham, 2003). Therefore, the connection between Lamora, and God can be made as they all share this power. When Lynch suggests this, the reader believes that the protagonists’ actions are justified, thus allowing for a feeling of guiltless pleasure to be experienced by the audience, through the use of Judeo-Christian tropes. In The Count of Monte Cristo , Dantès is positioned throughout much of the novel to have the power to take and give life through his elixir. Through dialogue, the elixir becomes a symbol that asserts that Dantès has the right and capacity to act as the Agent of Providence. In the first half of the novel, Dantès discusses the elixir with Madame de Villefort, where he mentions it has the capability to “recall life to a dying child” (429) in one drop. Although, “ten would have destroyed [the child]”. As the conversation with Villefort continues Dantès mentions that the

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