Unsypathetic Edward

One of my very favorite books is The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, so I believe I’ll begin with it. The portion I’m discussing today comes near the end of the book, so beware of spoilers.
The crisis of this book largely depends on the death of the child Edward, who was poisoned by his despairing mother. From this incident, the count realizes the folly and danger of his vengeance. Although he does go on to take away the fortune of one of the more despicable characters, he does not actually take another life.
However, the child Edward, the person who stands as the turning point of the whole novel, is an obnoxious, spoiled character, accustomed to getting his own way. My question when I read this portion is, Was it really wise to have such an important event revolve around a disliked character? Frankly, I had no sympathy with Edward, and was not disturbed when he died.
Firstly, Edward could be a simply mischievous character. However, the willful disobedience and demands make me feel that this is incorrect.
Secondly, Edward’s unlikeable character could further emphasize the point that revenge is wrong in any situation. However, wouldn’t it have been more powerful to have us love the character that is hurt?
I believe that the answer lies in the swirling action around it. If we had to mourn for Edward, we would not feel so much for Maxmillian,, the hopeless young lover, Valentine, with her terrible ordeal, Nortier surrounded by enemies and helpless, faithful Haidee, or the lonely Count himself. With these five characters to care about, it would spread the emotion we can give to fictional characters much too thin.
Therefore, I believe that this decision by Dumas is very wise. If we have a lot of characters, it’s not necessarily wise to make them all beloved and good. I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at a technique from this piece of great literature.

I Am...

I’ll start this blog by giving a short introduction of myself. I’m an aspiring writer, although I tend to get distracted. I have always been passionate about reading, and I’ll mostly write about literature, literary techniques, and writing. I may also include other things I think might be interesting.
I'll try to update about once a week. I'm on Twitter, which I try to update daily. Also, the link to my LibraryThing account is in my profile. Comments are welcome, but no vulgar language, please. I'm really excited about the opportunity to share my obsession with literature.