Zeringue 1
Corlin Zeringue
Ms. Flitton
English Pre-Diploma
26 February 2018
Les Trois Mousquetaires: Besties ‘Till the End
A long time ago, a brilliant philosopher had said, “be slow to fall into friendship; but
when thou art in, continue firm and constant”. Socrates was a clever man, and his quote very
much relates to a story by another man, named Alexandre Dumas. He wrote “The Three
Musketeers”, a book of love and friendship. In fact, the main theme is friendship, or more
specifically: that friendship is not about who one has known the longest, but the one who says “I
will always be here” and proves it. This is because the musketeers were not always friends, they
always put each other first, and they are always loyal to each other.
d’Artagnan and the musketeers did not know each other for long, but that did not stop
them from becoming friends.​ ​“Notwithstanding all the pains he took, D’Artagnan was unable to
learn any more concerning his three new-made friends. He formed, therefore, the resolution of
believing for the present all that was said of their past, hoping for more certain and extended
revelations in the future” (Dumas 81) illustrates this point.​ ​This shows that they still have secrets
of their own and they do not have to share everything with each other. This is an important part
of their friendship, because it shows that they are all perfectly comfortable with the state of their
friendship and the amount of knowledge they have of/with each other.​ ​Another example would
be, “ ‘But your mission will not be accomplished.’ / ‘That is true,’ replied D’Artagnan. / ‘Believe
me,’ continued Tréville, ‘in enterprises of this kind, in order that one may arrive, four must set
Zeringue 2
out.’ / ‘Ah, you are right, monsieur,’ said D’Artagnan; ‘but you know Athos, Porthos, and
Aramis, and you know if I can dispose of them.’ “ (Dumas 193). ​This shows how important they
are to each other. They need each other in order to get through many quests and adventures.​ To
summarise, they are not the typical long time relationship friends most stories use, but they are
amazing friends to each other.
When the musketeers embark on an adventure, they always sacrifice themselves for the
protection of their friends.​ Specifically, “At the same instant, four men, armed to the teeth,
entered by side doors, and rushed upon Athos. / ‘I am taken!’ shouted Athos, with all the power
of his lungs. ‘Go on, D’Artagnan! Spur, spur!’ and he fired two pistols.” (Dumas 204).​ ​ Athos is
risking his life to allow d’Artagnan to continue his journey. He takes charge of the dangerous
situation, and bravely tells d’Artagnan to escape. ​There are many more examples of this, one
more being that, “In fact, four men such as they were—four men devoted to one another, from
their purses to their lives; four men always supporting one another, never yielding, executing
singly or together the resolutions formed in common; four arms threatening the four cardinal
points, or turning toward a single point—must inevitably, either subterraneously, in open day, by
mining, in the trench, by cunning, or by force, open themselves a way toward the object they
wished to attain, however well it might be defended, or however distant it may seem. The only
thing that astonished D’Artagnan was that his friends had never thought of this” (Dumas 85).
d’Artagnan feels that together they can do anything. Many adventures had occurred, and
d’Artagnan, nor his friends, had ever thought about how much they care for each other until this
particular moment.​ Overall, the trust and sacrifice his friends have made for him have shown him
that anything is possible when they are together.
Zeringue 3
Finally, the musketeers are never disloyal to one another. ​The quote in the previous
paragraph is an excellent representation of their loyalty as well, “At the same instant, four men,
armed to the teeth, entered by side doors, and rushed upon Athos. / ‘I am taken!’ shouted Athos,
with all the power of his lungs. ‘Go on, D’Artagnan! Spur, spur!’ and he fired two pistols.”
(Dumas 204).​ The loyalty Athos shows for d’Artagnan is outstanding in this quote specifically.
He is basically telling him to save himself. ​Another example would be, “They walked arm in
arm, occupying the whole width of the street and taking in every Musketeer they met, so that in
the end it became a triumphal march. The heart of D’Artagnan swam in delirium; he marched
between Athos and Porthos, pressing them tenderly” (Dumas 57).​ ​They never let each other
down and were honored and proud to be fighting with one another. They always sticked to each
others sides, figuratively, and in this case, quite literally.​ In conclusion, loyalty was never an
issue when it came to the musketeers and d’Artagnan.
All in all, the novel The Three Musketeers teaches its readers about friendship and the
love one forms in a friendship. The theme is the moral of the story, a crucial part of a book, this
one especially. To conclude: friendship is about what someone does in that relationship, not the
time period of how long they’ve known each other, or the amount of knowledge they have on the
other person.