An Age of Inhumanity The French Revolution was an age of savagery, in which man killed fellow man out of cold blood and irrepressible hatred. In his novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens paints a clear picture of that hatred and its manifestation in the mass exterminations of the aristocratic class. He captures not only the brutality of the aristocrats before the revolution, who flaunted their authority over the mass peasantry, but also highlights the sadistic nature of the peasantry in their quest for bloody “justice” during the revolution. Throughout the novel, Dickens depicts the theme of man’s inhumanity towards his fellow man in France during the events in the years prior to and during the revolution. Dickens skillfully develops …show more content…
In Book the First, Dickens only casually mentions knitting when describing Madame Defarge. As he describes her he states, “Her knitting was before her . . .” (24). It is not revealed why until later chapters, but is only stated now that she spends all her time knitting. The reader only realizes later what she is really doing, and how barbaric is it that this is how Madame Defarge spends all of her time, premeditating the murder of thousands. In Book the Second, Dickens reveals Madame Defarge’s pastime. Her husband declares, “Knitted, in her own stitches and her own symbols, it will always be as plain to her as the sun” (132). Monsieur Defarge is referring to the register his wife spends all her time knitting, which is a list of all those who have committed crimes against the peasants of France and their families, and who are to die in the revolution. It is the “hit list” of the revolutionaries. It is a system to make sure everyone who “deserves punishment” receives it. However, it makes no distinction between the innocent and the guilty. This is apparent in Book the Third, when Dickens describes the death of the seamstress. He writes, “She goes next before him—is gone; the knitting women count Twenty-Two” (292). In this scene, the innocent seamstress meets her death at the hands of the guillotine on no other account than suspicion. She is only one of the many innocents who dies for no cause and cannot escape the revolutionaries’ killing machine. During all these unjust executions, the French revolutionary women casually knit on the sideline, planning more deaths. This is the most horrid development of the theme of inhumanity yet. As the peasants move through their organized revolution, they carry out the deaths they had planned, and move to killing
This book is about the removal of Native American’s in the 1830’s by the government. The Indian Removal Act was approved by Andrew Jackson, and was brutally forced onto all eastern native American tribes. The Indians were forced to move out west and away from the land where they were raised. Horrific times in U.S. but beautiful observations of nature and the Indians interesting rituals were made by Jahoda. Influential, disheartening, and terrible tale of the American Indian removal from east to west. Jahoda points out the senselessness of removing the Indians from their native land and portrays Jackson as being ruthless and greedy. Specifically, this book goes into detail of everything they were put through by the white men. Many Indians died due to the harsh conditions, starvation, diseases contracted from the white men, and the violence from fighting. The Red Eagle incident was bringing in the gradual manipulation and removal of the native tribes because the Indians weren't united: the removal and relocation was made easier because of this. The exile to their new lands were brought on with fighting and death with little remorse by the military. The false promises and deception; the fighting among tribes contributed to the extermination. There were so few American’s that were white that truly wanted to help
Among the leaders of the revolution is Madame Defarge. Madame Defarge is filled with hatred due to the personal tragedy caused by the aristocrats. Her sister is raped, her brother is killed, and her father also ends up dying. Because of her hatred, Madame Defarge refuses to help Lucie and her family when Darnay is on trial. Madame defarge also leads the revolutionaries to go and punish Foulon, a wealthy man who tells the starving people to eat grass." 'See', cried Madame, pointing with her knife. 'See the old villain bound with ropes. That was well done to tie a bunch of grass upon his back. Ha ha! That was well done. Let him eat it now. Madame put her knife under her arms and clapped as at a play"(230, Dickinson). Madame Defarge is being very cruel in the death of Foulon and laughs at his corpse. The cruelty shows how the revolution has changed her character to a more bloodthirsty and sinister level. The aristocracy’s violence and abuse in power has lead Madame Defarge to oppress her victims. Throughout Paris, Madame Defarge and the revolutionaries continue spreading bloodshed. It is because of the aristocracy’s oppression that havoc doesn’t stop. “Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind”(Dickinson, 381). The goodness the lower class originally had, is now corrupted by the
There have been many outbreaks of violence throughout history, from ancient massacres to today’s disorders. Each act is brought upon by a disagreement in the level of justice every person receives. One of the largest eruptions of revenge is the French Revolution, where much of the lower class grew tired of the cruel behavior of the aristocracy and decided to take action against them, resulting in a chaotic massacre that eventually changed France to benefit the country.Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities, takes place in the French Revolution, written as a warning for the people of England to show what would happen if the awful conditions of England continued to worsen, and how such barbarity could affect different types of people. Dickens’
A Tale of Two Cities, set in the era of the impending French Revolution, describes the life of the tyrannical nobility, the raging mob, and the dynamic central figures of the book. To portray these dynamic characters, Charles Dickens’ uses themes and motifs such as resurrection, secrecy, sacrifice, shadows, imprisonment and the women of the revolution knitting. Of these themes, sacrifice for happiness is most prevalent in Dickens’ writing, because he uses it to portray that, in order for someone to be truly happy, sacrifice is vital.
“If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence. If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society”-Bayard Rustin. An ideal society cannot stand on the weak pillars of atrocities committed during the struggle toward perfection. Likewise, the French Revolution struggled for equality, yet the chaotic time achieved little. Peasants and the proletariat had finally reached their breaking point, resulting in a merciless revolution, sparing no one. Charles Dickens’ 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, focuses on a family in the midst of the horrifying French Revolution. Dickens used the novel as a mouthpiece to express his dissatisfaction
France, overflowing with cruelty and misery from the French Revolution, was a broken state from 1789 to 1799; however, it is in this broken state that Dickens becomes captivated and proceeds to compose one of the most remarkable stories of all time. Not only does Dickens capture the spirit of the revolution itself through A Tale of Two Cities, but he also captures the tribulation of the French people. As portrayed in the story, being suffocated with suffering can compel people to respond in various ways. One might completely ignore the state of others, like the aristocracy; one might resort to acting in savage ways as a result of extreme misfortune, like the peasants; or one might finally realize that in order to better the situation they must make a sacrifice. Through these sacrifices made by Miss Pross, Darnay, and Carton, Dickens illustrates
The time before and during the French Revolution was one of the most gruesome periods ever existed. The monarchs and clergies could do anything they wanted, including murdering innocent people and escaped punishment due to their extreme influence in the government. In contrast, commoners and peasants started to die of diseases, starvation, and other extreme circumstances. Another tragic occurrence that happened to the commoners, was being punished in unspeakable ways. If a commoner was accused of a crime, they would almost instantly be found guilty and be sentenced to imprisonment and/or death. In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, the circumstances above were shown through a major character named Sydney Carton. Carton was alienated from
Dickens makes his standpoint strong in his distrustful and instructive interpretations of the gangs. The scenes in which the publics sharpen their artilleries at the stone and ball the gruesome Carmagnole come from corner to corner as intensely gruesome. Dickens’s most brief and significant opinion of rebellion comes in the last chapter, in which he follow-ups the dicey slope down from the troubled to the persecutor: “Spread the identical seed of voracious excess and domination over again, and it will assuredly harvest the unchanged produce according to its kind.” However Dickens appreciates the French Revolution as a pronounced representation of alteration and reappearance, he highlights that its fierce means were ultimately antithetical to its
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 uprising puts irreversible change into motion, helping to bring greater equality between French citizens as a result of the upheaval, and causing political changes that affect millions. Dickens examines the revolution through a focus on one family, the Manettes, and those closest to them, telling the tale of their tribulations in the midst of revolution. Through his changing tone, Dickens conveys that rebellion is
Charles Dickens focuses on the revenge that put the bloody French Revolution in motion in his suspenseful story A Tale of Two Cities. The French Revolution was a revolt instigated by the peasants, who attacked the nobles with vengeful hearts starting in the year 1789, and going on until the year 1799. The settings of the book took place in both London and England, two parallels in novel, two cities where the plotting of the Revolution went into affect. Although the reasons behind the different examples of revenge are exposed, the actions taken with revenge in mind are inexcusable and not justifiable. Dickens portrays the theme of revenge successfully through the joker Gaspard, the brave younger brother who sacrificed himself to protect his
In the book, Dickens portrays the people as having the hatred necessary for mob violence. Immediately, the book shows us an example how such hatred was created. When a youth’s hands were chopped off, “tongue torn out with pincers” and “his body burned alive” it shows the violence and torture that led to the French revolution. The youth represents the weak in French society
One scene where Madame Defarge’s inhumanity is majorly shown is when Charles Dickens says “…as Defarge and the rest bore an old officer [him] along; remained immovable close to him when he was got near his destination and began to be struck at from behind; remained immovable close to him when he dropped dead under it, that, suddenly animated, Madame Defarge [she] put her foot upon his neck, and with her cruel knife—long and ready—hewed off his head” (169). Madame Defarge’s actions of stepping on the officer’s neck and cutting off his head with her knife are considered inhumane because she steps on a man’s neck and cut off his head as though it is nothing. Madame Defarge feels no pity, remorse, or guilt that she cuts of the head of a man. Notably, Dickens describes Madame Defarge as “a strong and fearless character, of shrewd sense and readiness, of great determination, of that kind of beauty which not only seems to impart to its possessor firmness and animosity, but to strike into others an instinctive recognition of those qualities…”; however, Dickens contradicts himself by saying “she was [but] imbued from her childhood with a brooding sense of wrong, and an inveterate hatred of a class, opportunity had developed her into a tigress. She was absolutely without pity” (281).
The literature that came out of the French Revolution often shares common themes of death, rebirth, and destruction. Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is much the same way. Throughout the novel, Dickens clearly supports the revolution but also depicts the brutality of the revolutionaries. Dickens uses powerful metaphors of a sea to symbolize the revolutionaries destroying old France and the belittling name of “Jacques” to depict the narcissistic views of the French aristocracy to show his support for the revolution.
The French Revolution was a grim and primitive period in history lasting from 1789 to 1799 when the commoners attacked aristocrats because of their selfish and inhumane treatment of the lower class. In Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities the storm of the French Revolution is brewing and plots to overthrow the cruel aristocracy are underway. The aristocracy is hated by the commoners of France because of their harsh and abusive behavior towards the poor and their excessive lifestyle that leaves them subject to Hunger and Want. However, within the Revolutionaries’ plans are actions that mirror the aristocrats’ behavior towards them. Dickens’ symbols of the grindstone scene, the blue flies, and the knitting encompass his theme of man’s
The incidence of aggression and violence in acute mental health settings is internationally recognised as an ongoing and significant issue (Gascon, Martinez-Jarreta, Gonzales-Andrade, Santed, Casalod & Rueda 2009). Although the problem is endemic among mental health professionals, nurses are at a higher risk of experiencing patient or family violence compared to other healthcare providers and auxiliary staff (Schablon, Zeh, Wendeler, Peters, Wohlert, Harling & Nienhaus 2012). Evidence suggests that psychiatric nurses are two times likely to be exposed to threats of assault than medical-surgical nursing. As well, psychiatric nurses are 1.4 times more likely to be physically assaulted and 1.8 times more likely to be emotionally abused compared to nurses working in all other types of units (Hesketh et al. 2003). It is also estimated that between 25% and 80% of nurses employed in acute care hospitals experience various types of aggression (Moylan & Cullinan 2011).