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How Does Dickens Use Symbols In A Tale Of Two Cities

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Symbolism might just be one of the earliest elements of modern literature, all because it is so universal and it covers many aspects. A symbol can represent many things: actions, people, places, words, or objects can all have a symbolic meanings. Symbols may even foreshadow an upcoming obstacle or event that a person or group of people must face or overcome. A Tale Of Two Cities takes place during the French Revolution, so consequentially many of these symbols come to represent the inevitable clash between the two sides, the aristocrats and the peasants. Symbolism is used throughout literature because it is something that adds another level the the work, typically engraving a deeper meaning into the text; Dickens uses symbolism to represent not only an act, but a group of people. …show more content…

The townspeople quickly rushed to consume the wine in every way that they could. The river soon stood dry “the wine was gone, and the places where it had been most abundant were raked into a gridiron-pattern by fingers, these demonstrations ceased, as suddenly as they had broken out.” (Dickens, 1859, p. 29) This immediately depicts the people’s hunger, and becomes a symbol that shows how desperate the peasants within the town are. More importantly this symbol serves a second purpose, it shows the political hunger within that same group of people. This event becomes a strong symbol within the novel because this event foreshadows retaliation because just as wine was spilt, blood will do likewise in the

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