Revolutionary Images in a Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

(Quotes: “Bobbie Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones and the other boys soon followed his example selecting the smoothest and roundest stones.” [pg147] “The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready. Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, she held her hands up desperately as the villagers moved in on her, ‘It isn’t fair,’ she said. A stone hit her on the side of the

The novel, A Tale of Two Cities, was written by Charles Dickens and was published in 1859. A Tale of Two Cities is a historical fiction based during the French Revolution. As two groups of people who both live in London and Paris find themselves in a situation that affects all of them, which ends with some deaths and suffering. Charles Dickens purpose for writing A Tale of Two Cities was to inform and amplify the readers mind on human nature. Throughout the book Charles Dickens uses many themes and characteristics, that bring out human nature in all his characters, to broaden the view of the readers.

Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. "Come on," she said. "Hurry up."

It says how the stone is “the token of preposterous time” meaning the rocks is what will take part of the future savagery of the boys, it is what will eventually contribute to the boys becoming savages.

First, in a scene in Saint Antoine, a large cask of wine was dropped and broken on the streets. Everybody stopped what they were doing and went to drink the wine on the ground. Peoples’ hands, clothes, and the roads were all stained. The word, “BLOOD,” was also written on a wall with wine (Dickens 20). The wine in this scene symbolizes the blood of the revolution and foreshadows the entrance of the revolution. While the cask spilled, happiness and the thought of change went through all the minds of the poor in Saint Antoine. The mob formation of all the peasants to get wine or, “blood,” shows us the hatred they have for the wealthy class and how much they want the revolution to come. Later on in the book, Dickens uses echoing footsteps to foreshadow the upcoming revolution. As Lucie sits in the corner of a parlor, as she had done for six years, she hears footsteps from people downstairs, but she also hears echoes coming from far away. She wonders if the echoes are about her or her family, but then she says, “There were other echoes, from a distance, that rumbled menacingly in the corner all through this space of time. And it was now, about little Lucie's sixth birthday, that they began to have an awful sound, as of a great storm in France with a dreadful sea rising(Dickens 164).” Echoes of happiness and family were around; however, there were also

Charles Dickens writes an exemplary novel about the French Revolution, which follows the lives of those weaving into and out of it. Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities takes place in the late 1700s in France and England. The novel introduces a theme of man’s inhumanity to man, the cruel behaviors people show to each other. Throughout the book, the inhumanity of different characters towards other men slowly becomes more and more prevalent. Dickens uses the Evremonde brothers, Madame Defarge, and the Revolutionaries to show that there is no redemption for man’s inhumanity against man.

The use of suspenseful imagery allows for a descriptive foreshadow of the French Revolution. At the end of the chapter, Dickens compares people to the storm by showing “a crowd of people with its rush and roar, bearing down upon them too” (109). The Third Estate is depicted as rowdy and very thundering by means of their rush and roar. If the people linger to this extent for a Revolution, this rowdiness can cause a massive war. Soon enough there was “a great hurry in the streets, people speeding away to get shelter before the storm broke” (107). The storm, being synonymous with the Revolution, will cause a great hurry to the Third Estate due to their unpreparedness. Civilians, speeding away, try to get to shelter before the revolution starts to become too brutal. In the night a “storm of thunder

Charles dickens does not agree with the results of what happened in the French revolution. They were allover the place with their laws and imprisoned people for no reason. “you are consigned, evre'monde, to the prison of La Force… under what law?... we have new laws and new offences…”[4] an innocent man is sent to prison, exactly how it has been before the French revolution.

“Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. "Come on," she said. "Hurry up."( (Jackson)

In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, it uses duality throughout the story. Duality often refers to having two parts and is usually used with opposite meanings. Charles Dickens wanted us to know about duality by the very first paragraph of his novel. One of the dualities has to deal with the two cities of the title, London, England and Paris, France. Also, some of the dualities show us opposite parallels dealing with two or more people. The two emotions love and hate also have something to do with the theme. I think the use of the doubles is significant

In the sociopolitical novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens analyzes the events of one of the bloodiest revolutions in history, the French Revolution, characterized by its violence after no less than 40,000 people were sentenced to death. The violence of the revolution put irreversible change into motion, helping to bring greater equality between French citizens as a result of the upheaval, and causing political changes that affected millions. Through his changing tone, Dickens conveys that rebellion is necessary to amend the ever-growing divide between the social classes, but the mindless nature of the violence, as a result of mob mentality, is excessive, and blood is unnecessarily spilled.

The French Revolution mainly took place in the city of Paris during the late 1700’s. The Revolution did not only affect the people of France, but also the citizens of England as well. The French Revolution is known as one of the most brutal and inhumane periods of history. If one studied the beliefs and views of the people involved at the time, one would see a reoccurring theme of “ being recalled to life”. Born from the world of literature, Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities takes a deeper look at the culture of the late 1700’s, in both England and France. Dickens uses the character of Lucie Manette to further examine one of the major themes presented in the novel, consisting of the belief of one being

"Near the same tree two more bundles of acute angles sat with their legs drawn up. One, with his chin propped on his knees stared at nothing, in an intolerable and appalling manner... others were scattered about in every pose of contorted collapse, as in some picture of massacre or pestilence."

Trembling, I gazed at the sun and was standing amidst a perpetual desert - the vultures’ eyes glued to me. I froze with fear, though the sun baked my skin.

Pendragon’s hammer struck the iron handle of his chisel one last time. As the subdued clink of metal on metal reverberated through the room, a single sliver of ivory fell from the masterpiece. Surveying the now finished harp, Pendragon let a satisfied sigh escape his lips. Like a horse who has pulled loads for a lifetime and has finally been brought to the paddock, contentment settled over him.