The novel The Count of Monte Christo provides many insights into the psychological makeup of not only the novel's characters, but also its author Alexandre Dumas. Indeed, in light of the way The Count of Monte Christo addresses the interplay between justice, revenge, jealousy, greed, power and transformation, it reflects many events in Dumas' life and that of his father, Thomas -Alexandre Dumas, who was the biracial offspring of a French aristocrat and a Haitian slave of African origin. Thomas-Alexandre's career in the French army seemed brilliant until he became ensnared in a plot against Napoleon, under whom he served in Egypt. Having been identified as a saboteur, Thomas-Alexandre was imprisoned for twenty months, after which he found himself in Villers-Cotterets, a village near Paris where he was partially paralyzed, partially deaf and penniless. His fate left a significant impact on Alexandre, who was only four years old when Thomas-Alexandre died. Alexander believed that his father had been treated unfairly, and as a result, Alexander and his mother were at a social and financial disadvantage. At fifteen, he found work as a clerk with a notary. He also befriends a nobleman named Adolphe de Louvain who introduces Alexandre to the Parisian theater, which immediately captivates the teenager. He becomes determined to become a famous Parisian playwright. To this end, he honed his skills playing billiards and earned enough money to move to Paris. Moving to such a cosmopolitan world capital made Dumas aware of how little formal education he had, and he began to remedy this by reading as much as he could and taking classes in chemistry, biology and physics at a local hospital. In the midst of these activities...... middle of paper ...... create a gripping story of justice, revenge, transformation and redemption. As a result, The Count of Monte Cristo will continue to be a masterpiece of European literature. Works Cited Benton, Richard Buss, Robin. Introduction to the Count of Monte Cristo. New York: Penguin Classics. 1996. Print. Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo. New York: Penguin Classics. 1996. Print. Kashuba, Irma. “Alexandre Dumas, Father”. Critical Survey of Long Fiction (Fourth Edition). Salem Press. 2010. Print. King, Patricia Ann. "Goodbye". Masterplots, revised, volume 2, Bou—Cri. Edited by Frank McGill. 1949. the canvas. http://www.unz.org/Pub/MagillFrank-1949v02-01136. Accessed April 8, 2014. Phillips, Mike. “Black Europeans: an online gallery from the British Library”. Internet. www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/blackeuro/pdf/dumas.pdf. Accessed in April 8, 2014.