In the silence of slow death, Edmond Dantès hears something impossible.

As Dantès lies on the edge of starvation, a sound begins—scratching, scraping, chipping at the wall behind him. In a place where time has died and hope has dissolved, this sound is electric. Is it a rat? Is it death? Or is it… someone? Dumas masterfully captures the hallucinatory hope of the condemned. For the first time in days, Dantès speaks. Not because he wants to live—but because he might not be alone.

Topics Covered:

•Dantès’ physical weakness vs. sudden mental alertness

•Dumas’ portrayal of hope as an intrusive, resurrecting force

•Prison as a world where any anomaly is revolutionary

•Strategy: how Dantès masks his interest in order to protect it

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