the count of monte cristo

back at Starbucks taking advantage of the two hours of free internet.

here's some genius from Dumas:

pg. 523

the premise being, Bertuccio, one of Dantes many hires, prior to working for Dantes had committed a murder to avenge his brother.  On the night of the murder, he saw his victim burying his new born child. After Bertuccio killed this man, he dug up the child and took it home for his sister to raise.

as Bertuccio is relaying these events to Dantes aka The Count of Monte Cristo, the Count clarifies what the real crime was - that Bertuccio did not return the child to its mother. Here was Bertuccio's response:

"But to do that I should have had to make enquiries, attract attention and perhaps give myself away. I did not want to die: I was attached to life because of my sister-in-law, and because of that innate vanity which makes us want to remain whole and victorious after a vendetta; and, then, perhaps I was attached to life simply for the love of it."

The genius is how Dumas can get right to the heart of human motivation.