A Tale Of Two Cities — страница 2

aristocracy and the outbreak of revolution turning quickly into anarchy. Dickens was biased with a sympathy for the victimized, especially for children. The idea that the victimized, when extorted for long enough, would revolt was a central idea behind this novel. The unjust imprisonment of Dr. Manette tore him apart. He could never truly escape from his prison experience and in moments of great stress reverted to the insanity which Mr. Lorry and Lucie had found upon him at Defarge’s. Darnay had been tried often and came close to conviction a number of times all due to the past actions of his family. He was a mere victim of the past. Dickens clearly showed strong support for Darnay and Dr. Manette not only in the outcome, where they successfully escaped France, but also

throughout the story. When the peasant child was run over by Marquis St. Evremonde, Dickens showed a great deal of contempt for Evremonde, when he merely offered a few coins as his remorse, and created a sense that this was a terrible act. I have learned a great deal about life during the early French Revolution and viewed the anarchy with much internal depth while reading this novel. Members of the upper aristocracy were, in general, more conceited that I had previously thought them to be. Men like Monseigneur, a member of the ruling oligarchy, simply sat around most of the day finding ways to entertain themselves and caring little, if at all, for the welfare of France, nonetheless for anyone other than themselves. The numerous mobs were more volatile then I had expected. They

roamed, destroying at random, and went on to a new task with little persuasion. Many mobs cheered in joy for Darnay when he was acquitted at his first trial in France but were just as excited when he was condemned to death the second time. Society in general during the French Revolution has become much clearer to me. I found this novel to be extremely well written. It was originally a little difficult to understand until I became involved with the characters. At that point I had no problem following the plot, which actually became quite swift. The French Revolution was brilliantly displayed in all of its violence and anarchy. The underlying ideas of oppression and anarchy made it enjoyable to see how the characters interacted. I found Carton especially intriguing. He knew that

Lucie would never court him, before and after her marriage to Darnay, yet he devoted his life to her and gave it up in the end for her. Despite all of the depressing aspects of the novel, Dickens’ theme of resurrection became much more visible towards the end and actually was quite inspiring. As Carton gave his life for Darnay and Lucie, his final vision of a better society left me with a hopeful attitude and seemed to be an extraordinary way to close. 346