Pamela Denise Hilario

March

17, 2014
GREATWK S13
Count of Monte Cristo in Philippine Society
The novel basically delves on a society of conspiracy and injustices.
Consequently, it tells us the price we have to pay for being illiterate
and uneducated. The Count of Monte Cristo made me realize of the
very big importance of education to society. In another way, it relates
to education as source of mans liberation.
The society has always seen those who are illiterate as the black
sheep, some are being taken advantage of, and this is why Edmund
Dantes, was tricked to deliver the dangerous letter of Napoleon
Bonaparte. The main character doesnt know how to read and write,
thus, he wasnt able to know the content of the letter, which was then
a plan of rebellion by Bonaparte. This inability has led him to dangers
of life. He then was faced in a situation he never expected to come into
his simple living. The situation faced by Edmund is evident enough to
justify

the

impact

of

being

educated

yesterday

and

in

this

contemporary time.
This certain scenario portrays what mostly happen in the justice
system of our country. I do not have a particular person in mind but
what I am going to discuss here is the high percentage of illiteracy
prevailing in our country. This certain matter greatly concerns me, as I
am growing tired to see in the news how our educational system lacks
in facilities, schools, and teachers. As a consequence, only the
privileged ones are receiving the proper and quality education. In
relation to that, this issue is something to be taken seriously because

the continuing presence of illiteracy gives rise to unemployment, then

poverty, and worst, to higher crime rates. This has an immense impact
on people, that when they do not possess the education an
employment requires, it would be far more difficult for them to find a
decent job. Now this is why most of these uneducated people who do
not have the adequate resources, resort to jobs which do not require
any form of education at all, such as robbery, selling of illegal drugs,
being hired killers, and all other criminal acts. I am not saying this to
emphasize how being illiterate can automatically make you a bad
person, but what I am trying to point out here is that, illiteracy may
bring people to bad things. Just like what happened to Edmund Dantes,
because he does not know how to read and write, black-hearted people
were able to influence him easily. Inferiority and his belief that every
other

person

is

always

correct

have

only

brought

him

to

disadvantageous phase of life. Relating it to our society, for me most of

these criminals who are now spending the entirety of their lives in jail,
are only victims of lack of education in our country. Come to think of it,
if only these people were given the proper education they needed,
then there would be no reason to involve themselves to these criminal
acts, and if only they clearly aware of how huge this mess theyre
entering to, then less would be penalized and imprisoned.