Don’t Count on Your Luck

In life, you always hear people talking about their bad luck,and how they are just waiting for good luck to come along. However, things never happen the way they are planned to, and sometimes, good luck arrives as a result of bad luck itself. For example, in The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes gets unjustly convicted of conspiring with Bonapartists against Louis XVIII. He ends up at the prison of Chateau d’If, and there he remains for fourteen years. However, if it wasn’t because of his years of imprisonment, he never would have met Abbe Faria and eventually learned of the fortune hidden on the island of Monte Cristo. The story of Aladdin and his discovery of the magic lamp also parallels Dantes’ luck and the events of his life, as Aladdin also finds and wealth after being captured.


Before being imprisoned, Dantes was an intelligent and righteous man who had a beloved fiancee and a bright future ahead of him. He was respected and liked by all, for his kind nature and friendly demeanor. Aladdin’s personality was similar to Dantes’ kindness, generosity, and warmth. Even though Aladdin was poor, he never intentionally hurt anybody and lived a moral life. However,he got caught in Jafar’s plot and ended up trappd in the Cave of Wonders. Even though it seemed like a terrible misfortune at first, he never would have found the magic lamp if he wasn’t stuck in the cave. Similarly, even though Dantes was framed by Danglars, Fernand, and Villefort, he did emerge from his hardships with more money than he could ever imagine possessing.


After Aladdin discovered Genie and Dantes, the Spada wealth, both their lives changed drastically. They went from “rags to riches”, as each acquired a new image and persona that was entirely different from the person they used to be. Dantes took on many identities, and eventually the Count of Monte Cristo. Aladdin became Prince Ali, in hopes of winning Jasmine’s heart. Both never expected to become wealthy and powerful. If anything, they both anticipated dying in imprisonment. However, the fact that both their futures took significantly different courses than they were supposed to emphasizes how unpredictable life is, and how luck changes impossibly quickly.

Aside from the spontaneity of life, Dantes and Aladdin also exemplify how wealth has the power to change a person, their mindset, their personality, their outlook on life, their very essence. Before Aladdin met Genie, and before Dantes was accused of conspiracy, they were both innocent, open-minded, and kind men who were content with their lives and considered many people their friends, even if those people did not necessarily view them in the same light.


However, after their life-changing ordeals, both men changed into powerful and ambitious people who seem to have let go of their past. Dantes becomes rich and knowledgeable and carries no trace of the young sailor he once was when he was nineteen years old. He rewards Morrel and Calderousse who he felt deserved his friendship, but vowed to have revenge on Villefort, Fernand and Danglars. Aladdin gets absorbed into his role of Prince Ali and disregards his former promise to release Genie.

Although both Dantes’ and Aladdin’s stories are fictional creations, they share many important lessons about life. You can never anticipate what path life will lead you onto, and neither can you imagine the impact that life’s events will have on your character, and the person that you are. You should always be aware of your surroundings, as well as what is inside of you, because one day you may wake up, and have no idea what has happened to you or who you are anymore.


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