The Agency of the Objects: Noir Literature and Post-Human in the Novel The Cult of Monte Cristo

Abstract

This article aims to study the agency of the objects in the novel The Cult of the Monte Cristo using the concept of object-oriented ontology as a conceptual framework on the following points: 1) Objects and Helpers; 2) Objects and Fantasy Creation; and 3) Objects and Undressing of Sins. The results reveal that the objects in the text are presented as a person’s helper in life, which reveals that human beings rely on the power of non-human beings to perform various activities. In addition, objects reveal the fantasy thinking of people to define objects they have never known. This reflects human cowardice, because the creation of such fantasies does not correspond to what the object is. An interesting issue was that objects are presented to have the ability to reveal people’s hidden sins. The characteristics of these three objects are presented as linked to the post-human state within the framework of noir literary works.