Question

friday night’s homework (recommended you do it by monday, 2/2) :
close reading on chapter nine
directions: read each summary entry and think about which themes listed in the themes key apply to it, then color in those themes in the theme tracker. next, write a few sentences of analysis to explain how the themes you chose apply to each summary section.
themes key
1 justice, revenge, and god’s will (dark green)
2 changes of identity and station (dark blue)
3 love, devotion, and redemption (red)
4 debt and gratitude (light blue)
5 the domestic and the foreign (light green)
summary
the narrator describes the various states into which dantes falls during his time in d’if. he has periods where he is angry, where he prays to god and to men (including the unknown men who have done him harm). he paces around his cell, wracking his brain for things to think about, but as the narrator notes, dantes was only nineteen when he was imprisoned, and he had very little by way of formal learning. in prison, he can only think of himself, mercedes, his father, and morrel, and they seem like ghosts to him. after a time, he resolves to let himself die, as he cannot bring himself to commit suicide by hanging. he renounces his food and throws it out a very tiny window whenever the guard leaves it for him. he begins to grow woefully thin.
theme tracker
your analysis: 1-3 sentences per box

Explanation:

The selected themes align with Dantes' prison experience: his anger and prayers tie to questions of divine justice and revenge, while his emotional collapse, shift from hope to despair, and loss of his former self reflect a dramatic change in his identity and station. The analysis connects his fluctuating emotions (rage, prayer, hopelessness) to these themes, explaining how imprisonment warps his sense of self and his relationship to divine will.

Answer:

Theme Tracker:

1. Justice, Revenge, and God’s Will (dark green)
2. Changes of Identity and Station (dark blue)

Your Analysis:

While imprisoned in D'If, Dantes' shifting emotions—from anger at his wrongful imprisonment to desperate prayer to God—reflect his grappling with justice, revenge, and God’s will. His descent from a hopeful young sailor to a man resolved to starve himself also marks a devastating change in his identity and social station, stripping him of his former purpose and sense of self. The isolation of prison forces him to confront only his suffering and lost connections, deepening both his spiritual turmoil and his eroding sense of who he once was.