Seek Out the Wise
The Rare Relationship
Welcome to the YouTopian Journey. Each week I will be sharing unique wisdom as well as a more in-depth overview of the artwork that is featured on the Instagram @youtopianjourney. This week we discuss the importance of seeking out the wise.
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THE WISE FREE YOU FROM THE PRISON OF CIRCUMSTANCE
“I looked for great human beings, but all I found were the apes of their ideals.”-Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols.
In one of the great works of classical literature, The Count of Monte Cristo, the main character of Edmond Dantès has perhaps one of the greatest reversals of fortune in all of fiction. After the intention to have Dantès made the captain of his own ship and announcing his own plan to marry his beloved, Dantès is arrested on trumped up charges for a crime he didn’t commit. This is the result of the jealousy and envy of his peers. The innocent Dantès is then sent to the feared Chateau d'If, an island prison where no man had ever escaped.
Dantès languishes for six years in solitary confinement. His identity removed, he is only ever referred to by the number thirty-four. With no hope, Dantès considers suicide. It is only when he hears a strange noise at the wall of his cell that his zest for life returns. This strange noise turns out to be another prisoner digging through the wall. Dantès begins digging as well and meets abbé Faria, the mad monk. The two begin to work together and thus begins the greatest mentor and mentee relationship in all of literature.
In return for his help, the wise Faria educated Dantès in languages, history, economics, sword fighting, reading, science, mathematics, and philosophy. With nothing else to distract him, Dantès becomes a multi-hyphenated scholar, a true polymath. Marveling at all of this knowledge, Dantès asked his wise teacher what would have happened to him if he was never imprisoned. The abbé replied:
“Possibly nothing at all; the overflow of my brain would probably, in state of freedom, have evaporated in a thousand follies; misfortune is needed to bring to light the treasures of the human intellect. Compression is needed to explode gunpowder. Captivity has brought my mental faculties to a focus; and you are well aware that from the collision of clouds electricity is produced-from electricity, lighting, from lightning, illumination.”
More importantly, Faria shared with Dantès the location of a magnificent and hidden cache of treasure. Dantès eventually escaped the island prison and located the fortune, which allowed him to become the Count of Monte Cristo. Using his knowledge and newfound wealth, he set out to have his revenge on those who wronged him.